'We believe in a fusion between landscape and architecture. An important relationship that encourages a more rounded approach to an outdoor lifestyle, creating not only beautiful but practical spaces, inspiring people to use their gardens.'
- The Rich brothers
Brothers Harry and David Rich (professionally known as Rich Landscapes) are leading representatives of a new, younger generation of landscape gardener.
In 2013, the Welsh siblings made their first appearance at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Drawing inspiration from their formative years, their extraordinary ‘Un Garreg’ show garden featured a 425 million year old sandstone. Arranged to form decorative boulders and supporting a floating timber bench, they added lengths of dry stone walling as a subtle reference to the Welsh hills. Awarded with a gold medal for their installation, the pair were then invited the following year to create a full scale show garden. Titled ‘Vital Earth The Night Sky Garden’ their show garden was granted a silver gilt medal.
This year, the Rich brothers have created a design for the Cloudy Bay winery in New Zealand, which they discuss in the accompanying video. They have a very clever way of blending architectural elements within natural surroundings. Their 'Shack' element of the garden is added to close the gap separating buildings from nature:
'The shack is constructed from raw, native materials made in an honest fashion. For us it needed to compliment the garden and blend organically within the space, not to be seen as a separate element. We wanted to create a piece of architecture that could adapt, reform and re-orientate. A translucent sculpture that, with the change of direction could become a solid form, constricting views from and into the garden.'
We are patiently waiting to see what's next for this talented pair. In the meantime, their website provides a catalogue of beautiful past projects for you to look at.
