Gilles Clément, Manifeste du Tiers Paysage, Paris: Éditions Sujet/Objet, 2004.
An inspiration for us has been Gilles Clement who instead of designing enclosed gardens, seeks out the spontaneous nature around us. He suggests that human, animal and weather flows have produced an urban biotope of planetary mixing, in which plants are suited to specific site conditions rather than cultured identities. Clément’s ideas provide a means of dealing with the dynamics of our increasingly complex understanding of the landscape. He advocates opening up the biological doors and corridors to make biodiversity circulate on its own. With urbanibalism we stretch this concept to seek out the third landscape of food, the uncultivated plots and spontaneous plant-life as a potential bio-culinary corridor.
The ‘third’ in the third landscape refers to the Third estate in a pamphlet written by clergyman Abbé Sieyes in 1789: Qu’est-ce que le tiers-état? Paraphrasing the motto of this pamphlet one could say:
1° Qu’est-ce que le tiers paysage ? Tout.
2° Qu’a-t-il été jusqu’à présent dans l’ordre politique ? Rien.
3° Que demande-t-il ? À y devenir quelque chose
What Is The Third Landscape? Everything.
What Has It Been Until Now In The Political Order? Nothing.
What does it want to be? Something.
An English translation is still on its way, but you can download the original version in French from Clément’s website