L' appropriation de la nature dans le Bénin méridional. Observations à partir des cours-jardins à Abomey

Abstract

This article looks at the appropriation of nature in the courtyard gardens of Abomey, in southern Benin. It is based on the observation, made during my fieldwork, of the presence of imported plants in some of these courtyards. These plants have not arrived there by chance: their distribution in flowerbeds, parterres, on either side of an entrance or an alley, suggests that not only have these plants been consciously chosen, but also that their layout, influenced to varying degrees by the landscaping that has graced the town since the colonial period, is deliberate. I will be looking at these transplants through the prism of the architectural discipline, in which nature is often relegated to the role of décor, a backdrop against which architecture and practices stand out. I intend to explore other ways of articulating what modern thinking has hitherto separated, using architectural drawing as an example.