Gardens Illustrated Magazine - May 2014
Designer profiles
We talk to the designers vying for this year’s medals - from multi-gold winners to
the show’s youngest competitors making their Chelsea debut - and take a look at
what makes their gardens unmissable.
Name: Luciano Giubbilei
Born: Sienna 1971
Training: Diploma in Garden Design, Inchbald School of Design
Chelsea History: Two gold medals
I came to garden design at the age of 18 through having my own vegetable garden
and cooking for friends in the Tuscan countryside. The garden was a place of
communion, where family and friends came together to eat and drink. I had always
loved drawing and later, when I came to England and visited design schools and saw
the beautifully drawn garden plans, I realised that it was what I wanted to do.
When I do a town garden now it will have the simplicity of my earlier gardens but
not necessarily the formality. Planting has become more important to me, especially
trees. I see them now as the most important element in creating a space. For
Chelsea this year, the character and age of the amelanchiers and the way they spread
so gracefully over the space sets the atmosphere of the whole garden.
I want to put my energy now into projects where I can learn and be challenged. I
really enjoy learning from plantsmen - I have been working on several projects with
Piet Oudolf.
I find collaborating with artists totally stimulating. We can look at a space together,
talk about why they work the way they do, and I get insights that help me when I’m
back in the studio. This year I am collaborating with the American sculptress Ursula
von Rydingsvard. When I saw a book on her work I though it was really wonderful resembling rock cliffs worn by the wind, but made from cedar.
Plot: MA18
Sponsor: Laurent-Perrier
Contractor: Crocus
Theme: A garden that explores texture, form and light.
Two mature amelanchiers embody the main themes of Luciano Giubbilei’s garden
with their multi-stemmed forms and canopies of delicate leaves that allow dappled
light to filter through. Limestone in different finishes creates the framework of the
design, forming the main pathway leading to the flagstone seating area and delineating
the two circular, well-like sources of water, and the channels that feed into the
stepped water feature, inspired by a pool by Venetian architect Carlos Scarpa and
made by Andrew Ewing.
Viewed from the main avenue, a rolling collection of loosely clipped beech spheres
directs the eye down the garden to the first amelanchier. From here the path opens
on to a seating area with hand-carved limestone seats. A section of concrete walling,
faced with patinated metal panels, creates a striking feature in the yew boundary
hedge and provides a surface for shadow play from the tree. At the end of the
garden, a second amelanchier, set in a rectangle of compacted earth with gravel,
creates a counterpoint to the layered, cedar sculpture by Ursula von Rydingsvard,
which is offset by a backdrop of pale concrete walling. The herbaceous planting, in
two rectangular beds on opposite corners of the garden, is composed of a mixture
of delicate forms from grasses, euphorbias, fennel and Orlaya grandiflora, alongside
species with architectural leaves. The colour scheme is a restful blend of yellow,
cream and white with accents of blue, and lime green from foliage.
Contact: 020 7622 2616 www.lucianogiubbilei.com