AQUAPHYTE

Adrien Bénard is not an agronomist like the others, while riding in Shibuya's neighborhood, he remained under the charm of a kokedama. Emerveillé by this staging of the living, he then stopped on several trips in the archipelago to learn about these plant compositions unknown in France and appeared in Japan in the 1990 s. Today he is one of the only European specialists in this plant art and offers compositions optimized for the rhythm of Western life through his online shop Aquaphyte Design. The Kokedama are creations that summarize the poetry that inhabits the Japanese spirit when it comes to nature and its beauty: they consist of a sphere made of a black clay substrate wrapped in a foam coat in which plants or flowers grow and thrive. The Kokedama can be placed on all kinds of media (slate plates, wood…) or suspended, and even be we of small figures (characters or animals) but also small elements of Asian decoration to give to seeing real miniature landscapes. The Kokedama create a serene atmosphere in the interior and can also find their place outside. Aquaphyte Design has several ranges (a maintenance sheet is provided with each composition): «Kokedama bouquet», des Kokedama fleuris, «Kokedama Canopy», recalling the vegetation of lush tropical forests, «Kokedama Edo» more classical and referring to ancestral art of Japanese gardens, «Kokedama magnet» to place on a mirror or a metal surface and finally «Kokedama prestige» marrying unpublished and original compositions. Aquaphyte Design even markets a manufacturing kit to try this plant art that has more and more followers in Japan. A kokedama has a limited lifespan: between two months and four months for a flowering kokedama (the time of flowering) and about 9 months for others, but during all this time Aquaphyte Design found the appropriate process so that the foam remains green. From 65 € for a flowering kokedama, and from 55 € for a classic Kokedama.