Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier

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Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier

Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier (9 January 1861 in Aix-les-Bains – 26 October 1930 in Paris) was a French landscape architect, trained with Alphand and became conservateur of the promenades of Paris. He developed an arboretum at Vincennes and the gardens of the Champ-de-Mars below the Eiffel Tower. In 1925 he became Inspector of Gardens for the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and undertook projects in the Americas. In 1925, Forestier moved to Havana for five years to collaborate with architects and landscape designers. In the master planning of the city his aim was to create a harmonic balance between the classical built form and the tropical landscape. He embraced and connected the city’s road networks while accentuating prominent landmarks. His influence has left a huge mark on Havana although many of his ideas were cut short by the great depression in 1929. Forestier also made a plan for the improvement of Buenos Aires. In Spain, he designed the Maria Luisa Park in Seville and the gardens of La Casa del Rey Moro in Ronda.

Writings

• FORESTIER Jean Claude Nicolas, Grandes villes et systèmes de parcs, Paris, Hachette, 1908, 50p.
• FORESTIER Jean Claude Nicolas, Grandes villes et systèmes de parcs, Paris, Norma, rééd. du texte de 1908 présentée par B. Leclerc et S. Tarrago, 1997, 383p.
• FORESTIER Jean Claude Nicolas, Jardins, carnet de plans et de croquis, Paris, Ed Picard, 1994.
• LECLERC Bénédicte, Jean Claude Nicolas FORESTIER,1861-1930, du Jardin au paysage urbain, Paris, Ed Picard, 2000, 283p.
• LECLERC Bénédicte, Jean Claude Nicolas FORESTIER,1861-1930, La science des jardins au service de l’art urbain, Revue Pages Paysages, N°2, 1988–89, p24-29.
• LECLERC Bénédicte, Jardin, Paysage, urbanisme : la mission de Jean C-N Forestier au Maroc en 1913, Nancy, Ed Ecole d’architecture de Nancy, 1993, s-p.
• LE DANTEC Jean-Pierre, Le Sauvage et le régulier. Art des jardins et paysagisme en France au XXième siècle, Paris, Ed du Moniteur, 2002, p93 à 101.