Mines de Bruoux | Olivier Souquet

The city of Gargas (“mountain” in Provençal) is located in southern France and is home to the site of Bruoux where the architecture firm DeSo and Christine Dalnoky’s architectural and landscaping project was built.

Development of ochre mines into an organized tour including an open air amphitheater for art festivals

The site is predominantly made up of a natural mineral: ochre, pure clay (kaolinite) combined with ferric rock (iron hydroxide) and used as a coloring pigment since prehistory.

The rock makes this region a unique “Provençal Colorado” recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. It also has a biotope area for rare plants.

 It is an unusual location whose unique brightness is due to the colors of the rocks - yellow (goethite), brown (limonite) and red (hematite) - as well as the esthetic power generated by the work of 19th century miners.

Looking further back in history, an ancestral past is unearthed, including prehistoric ochre murals.

The bedrock of the architectural and landscaping project delivered in January 2009 was built on a plot of land steeped in and shaped by the different historic eras.

 The making, shaping and image of the location were not dictated by any intention. It traces back to a mining past and the requirements of exploitation as well as the region’s complex and rich geography and climate.

This raw, wild and perennial look was painstakingly preserved by the combined intentions of the architect and landscapist as a tribute to the Past and Nature.