D Xenakis and M Avrabou - Behind the designer...

Maro Avrabou and Dimitri Xenakis are once again coming together to collaborate on a courtyard design for the Gardening World Cup. Maro Avrabou, whose work deals with light and colour in theatre, dance, installations and gardens, lives near Paris. She works on site-specific projects, indoors and outdoors, around the world. Dimitri Xenakis, is a visual artist, working in and with the landscape, constantly renewing his artistic language to interact with the environment. The two collaborate on works that question living spaces, points of view, forms and light. Their bright and bold ‘Flower Power’ design is an ornamental garden, based on a simple theatrical concept, which associates real flowers with photographs of flowers and colourful lights. Due to its small dimensions it should be considered as a miniature of a real garden. Acrylic plastic panels are printed with over-dimensioned photos of flowers. All around them, a profusion of real flowers create a colourful landscape. The photography is used on the panels to emphasize colours and the presence of the flowers. The half transparency of the panels creates many optical and chromatic combinations while you walk around. The lighting is a part of the design and even if they are not lit, the fluorescent tubes add more colours. This combination of nature and ornamentation give an overall feeling of abundance and vitality.