Located on the ground floor of Villa Rayolet, whose restoration was completed in 2021, this exhibition occupies the entrance hall and three reception rooms of this villa representative of the bourgeois and seaside resorts of the 1940s. - The central room presents the history and evolution of the Garden of the Mediterranean, placed in the long line of the landscaped gardens that preceded it. - The room on the right traces the life of the Domaine du Rayol through that of its owners throughout the 20th century. - The room on the left is dedicated to the life and work of landscape gardener Gilles Clément, designer of the Jardin des Méditerranées.
Screens, arranged along the walls so as not to cut out the views to the outside and the mirror effects specific to certain rooms, present a rich iconography tracing the history of the site.
Some «objects» occupy the space without distorting it. In the room dedicated to the Mediterranean Garden: - A «planetary garden» table with a globe revealing the areas subjected to the Mediterranean climate, - A «column of sounds» to listen to short sentences by Gilles Clément and gardeners speaking about the garden. In the room of «owners»: - A table to browse «family albums» with complementary photos to the panels: an album for each of the two families who lived in the Domain (Courmes and Potez), an album detailing the architecture, and two albums for children. - A large model of Villa Rayolet to understand its complex layout. In the room dedicated to Gilles Clément: - A majestic chandelier made up of seeds and leaves collected in the Garden of the Mediterranean and frozen in drops of resin. - “Wooden petals” engraved with the definitions of the key concepts of Gilles Clément, which play a game with the large mirror of the room. Finally, the existing windows, an integral part of the Historical Monument, allow to exhibit other objects (gardener’s notebooks, photos, objects found on the site, etc.).
Note: the exhibition is translated into English, and is also aimed at children with objects and information banners specifically dedicated to them at the bottom of the panels.