For Lasserre Olivier, ideas are waiting to be found, handpicked and put to optimum use. And for this, nature is his bounty. “I live in it and with it,” he says, as he takes seat at the UT Guest House, snaps open his laptop and clicks into his work — landscape masterplan of Rhone Alpine Valley, Switzerland, and Coupvray, Paris, the lighting plan in Geneva and regional project of Nyon District, Switzerland, among others. Interestingly, each highlights a conversation between human and natural structures. “I like to keep the virgin greens intact, just the way it’s here,” for Olivier, Chandigarh has a complete blend of human organization and raw wilderness. “The strong relation between landscape structures and landscape quality of the two places is hard to miss,” Olivier feels that an aerial view of both would reveal a similar territory structure. “Both have a valley in the back drop, a cone shaped structure (Panchkula in Chandigarh’s case) and a fluid body (read Beas), though it’s subject to different types of vegetation, surfaces and functions,” he emphasises that treatment of the place is what marks the difference. “The placement of elements like path, plot limit, wall, hedge, fence, infrastructure, river, tree alignment and forest edge, along with political inclinations define the uniqueness of both the places.” What’s also of importance is the mindset of people and how they preserve it. “More than the design, it’s how the people respond to it that shapes a city and Chandigarh’s doing just fine,” Olivier wraps up the conversation. Lasserre Olivier will present ‘Emerging Trends in Landscape Architecture’ on November 9 at 10:00 am at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10. Spaces in betweenAs we speak of landscape design, voids cannot be left behind, says architect Andy Schonholzer, also a part of the conference. He has designed and redefined public spaces in Switzerland. “ Last time, I visited Sector 17 and the plaza with its horizontal structure reminded me of shopping complexes back home,” he says though Switzerland is pretty what it misses is Chandigarh’s greenery. “Besides, Chandigarh has an edge - it was designed as a planned green city.”
