TCLF: What’s Out There France

Over the summer, OvS Principal Eric Groft and The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s  President and CEO Charles Birnbaum held an intensive workshop on landscape architecture, design and stewardship. The weeklong workshop was hosted by Château de La Napoule, gardens and Côte D’Azur, home of the La Napoule Art Foundation as inspiration.

The course curriculum was inspired after the class first organized nearly 30 years ago by Noele Clews, featuring John Brookes and James van Sweden.

The workshop included excursions to nearby gardens, parks, museums, and cultural landscapes; a series of lectures and case studies, and an introduction to What’s Out There. A highly interactive design charrette for one of the gardens was a culmination of the immersive experience.

Many of the destinations visited during the workshop are now a part of TCLF’s What’s Out There database, an online digital collection designed to “raise public awareness of the rich diversity and interconnectedness of our shared designed landscape heritage.” The newest additions to the program include: The Picasso Museum in Antibes, the Hotel de Ville in Cannes, and the Ile sainte-Margurite, among others.

Located just four miles southwest of Cannes, the Chateau is tucked into a small fishing village that overlooks the Mediterranean. Participants from all over the United States participated in the workshop and were given exclusive access to the Chateau’s for acres of formal gardens.