Tina Turner and George Harrison, Prince Charles and the Queen of Bahrain, David Chipperfield and Zaha Hadid – Enzo Enea’s green creations are sought after worldwide. With his roughly 200 employees he designs private gardens as well as grounds for restaurants, hotels and golf courses at home and abroad. The first US office – Enea Garden Design Inc. – opened in 2005 in Miami; ten years later came New York. Despite this international reach, the company remains deeply rooted in Switzerland: at the headquarters in Rapperswil-Jona lies the 75,000-square-metre public park with an arboretum and tree museum, home to a wide selection of rare tree species. The grounds embody Enea’s vision of architecture, landscape and art – and are a passion project of the tree collector.
MEN: Mr Enea, how did you discover your love of nature?
Enzo Enea: The experiences in my grandfather’s garden were formative. Together we tended the trees, cultivated the garden and harvested fruit and vegetables. I learned a lot about horticulture, patience and a work ethic. My most formative experience was biting into a peach – a big, yellow sun made flesh. If you learn from nature and cultivate it, it gives you everything back. Yes, the work was hard, but the good feeling afterwards all the greater.
How did you come to work abroad? What appeals to you about it?
My very first commission I handled abroad – on Maui, Hawaii, where I designed and carried out the grounds of a Sheraton hotel. Another milestone was the newcomer prize at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show in 1998. Such moments carried the Enea name beyond borders. Anyone who designs gardens with passion sees no borders – they see nature. The challenge lies in the different climate zones and the specifics of each project. What appeals to me is constantly learning through the many contacts in different cultures.
How does your international work differ from your work in Switzerland?
For an entrepreneur, Switzerland is a dream. Deadlines, submissions, suppliers, staff – here almost everyone works precisely, punctually and reliably.
“You don’t transplant an old tree,” they say. You do it anyway. Why?
Quite simply: because we can. Over our decades in horticulture we developed our own root-cutting technique that allows even large, old trees to be transported with a small root ball. Many people aren’t aware that trees are grown in nurseries precisely for this: they are replanted several times and thus get used to transplanting. We too raise trees in our nursery in Rapperswil-Jona.
How do you recognise a typical Enea garden?
I do have my own signature, just as a cook or artist remains recognisable even in a new work. But I don’t think there’s a typical garden image. Perhaps you recognise my respect for trees, which I like to stage. And I hope that in each of my gardens you feel that sensation of when everything is right: the proportions, the light, the distances, the play of the seasons. Like a really good suit – you don’t even notice how much work went into it. That’s what makes it so good.
Which projects are currently in the pipeline?
Right now we’re working on two projects for the Peninsula Group, one in Istanbul, one in London. In Miami we’re designing the terraces of the luxury St. Regis residence, in Norway the outdoor area of a six-star spa beyond the Arctic Circle. On top of that come various private gardens.
What would be a dream commission for you?
A project that benefits as many people as possible: greening cities. There’s so much potential, and so little is done! Avenues, roofs, façades, squares – everything can be planted. We have no idea how much we miss nature.
A visionary designer: after training as an industrial designer, Enzo Enea (57) studied landscape architecture in London and took over his father’s firm in 1993, before founding Enea GmbH three years later. Today he works worldwide and, with his team, has realised over 1,000 projects. Central to his design concept is the harmonious merging of outdoors and indoors – connecting the interior of a house with its grounds.
This article appeared in MEN issue 1/22 (May 2022).
