The Water Theatre Grove, designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was one of the most famous creations in the gardens of Versailles. Teeming with water jets, it was admired by all of Europe. Its demise was not so glorious – dismantled by Louis XVI, it was definitively wiped off the map by the storms of 1990 and 1999.

How should it be brought back to life? As a remake of the 17^th century or as a truly contemporary creation? The second solution was adopted and entrusted to Louis Benech, the renowned landscape architect, and Jean-Michel Othoniel, an equally famous contemporary artist. One of their obsessions was to recover the magic of the waters surging upward and their connection with dance, an art that the Sun King loved so much.

They have certainly met the challenge with these pools in the shape of a stage and these fountain sculptures made of glass beads, gilded as in the Grand Siècle. They did so with a real concern for openness: the Water Theatre Grove will be permanently open to the public for jogging, picnicking or just enjoying the enchantment of an aquatic ballet in an original green environment combining native (such as bushgrass) and exotic (Tibetan dewberry) species.

Publisher : Beaux Arts magazine
Date of publishing : May 2015
Number of pages: 36 pages
Dimensions: 22 x 28,5 cm
EAN : 9791020402097

French only