Sissinghurst

The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens

III Annual Award, 1992

After having focused in past editions on the role of creativity and the need for philosophical meditation on the esthetic value of landscapes and gardens, the international Jury has unanimously agreed to turn attention now to the professional capabilities of two gardeners from the world of Anglo-Saxon culture.
Our wish is to re-state the conviction that landscapes and gardens live only if and where there exists continuous, diligent and intelligent on-site care capable of winning a visitor’s respectful awareness, a factor which contributes in turn to the quality of site management.
Pamela Schwerdt and Sibylle Kreutzberger offer one and all concrete proof that there are no a priori contradictions between a garden’s beauty and its availability as a spot to be “lived in” by a large public. These two women have imparted an invaluable lesson on the patience and wisdom required for the carrying out of small tasks aimed at breathing new life into a garden each and every season for over thirty years. Such an accomplishment is particularly significant in this case, since Sissinghurst is a location singularly historic and renowned, just as it is greatly loved and sought after by an ever-increasing number of visitors (up to almost 200,000 a year).
The jury trusts that this recognition will be of special avail in the propagation and dignifying of landscape culture, love for gardens, and the understanding of as well as respect for nature.

1992 Carlo Scarpa Prize Statement, edited by the Jury.