The College Des Ecossais (Scots College) was founded by

Patrick Geddes Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban plannin ...

in 1924 as an international teaching establishment located in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, in the south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

The site

When coming back in Europe in 1924 after a long stay in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Geddes decided to settle with his daughter Norah in Montpellier, a city that was already linked with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, when it became the European capital of medicine: "In this he was harking back to medieval ideas, looking for unity among scholars who saw a wholeness in their studies and in where they lived with others from other lands". As the Jardin des plantes de Montpellier, first

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

in France, was implemented there in 1593 as part of the medicine faculty, the place had a long-standing tradition in these sciences. Moreover, the biologist Charles Flahault, that Geddes considered the greatest of their times was living there. « The concept of the Scots College as an international students’ Center emerged during Geddes’ first travel to Montpellier in 1890, when invited by his friend Charles Flahault » after « he met the French botanist at the Marine Station of Roscoff in 1878. »Cf. Sabine Kraus, «The Scots College: a stagecraft of Geddes's Thought�
online
/ref>

The buildings

Like the one he had already installed in 1892 in

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

when renovating Edinburgh Old Town, Geddes had an Outlook Tower attached to the Scottish Pavilion, both erected by the local architect Edmond Leenhardt in white local stone. He had also an Indian Pavilion designed and built by his son-in-law

Frank Mears Sir Frank Charles Mears LLD (11 July 1880 – 25 January 1953) was an architect and Scotland's leading planning consultant from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Life and work Born in Tynemouth he moved to Edinburgh in 1897 when his father, Dr ...

, that was to be headed by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. An American Pavilion was also in program. « The concept of itinerant students went back to earlier times when students throughout Europe would travel to other countries and institutions to complete their education in real situations rather than be restricted to dry home and university study ». But as the College was also conceived as an educational and research center, the Scottish Pavilion housed too the SIGMA (International Station of Mediterranean and Alpine Geobotany) laboratory founded by Josias Braun-Blanquet, the Swiss botanist settled in Montpellier after he submitted a dissertation on

phytosociology Phytosociology, also known as phytocoenology or simply plant sociology, is the study of groups of species of plant that are usually found together. Phytosociology aims to Empirical evidence, empirically describe the vegetative environment of a giv ...

supervised by Flahault.

The gardens

By conceiving it as a place for teaching not only regional culture, geography, town planning, sociology, biology, botany and other sciences, but mainly “Life As a Whole”, Geddes creates there the last of what the French philosopher Thierry Paquot calls PG’s finest invention: the pedagogical garden. « To the end of his life he insisted on teaching outdoors whenever possible, taking his students on long walks into the neighbouring countryside. He was an environmentalist long before the word “environment” became fashionable, and his teachings are increasingly studied and applied today. »Sheila Potter, “Geddes Today – Environment“, ''in Sir Patrick Geddes, 1854-1932'', Ballater Geddes Project 2004 exhibition, available o
metagraphies.org
/ref> As he already did years ahead with the original thematic botanic garden he created in the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

, then dedicated to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

’s flowers, Geddes dedicates several

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, plats, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the ...

s in that parcel of Mediterranean landscape to the Greek philosophers on both sides of an alley of

cypress tree Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

s. So, more than all the garden is for Geddes the ideal place for practicing the wise conclusion of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

’s ''Candide''. « An active, constructive peace is the only one that can compete with war and its glory: action. Therefore, said Geddes, peace means an unending fight against disease and slums, ignorance and economic injustice, against deforestation and waste of natural resources; peace means, both concretely and figuratively, that everyone must cultivate his garden, » ''il faut cultiver son jardin''…

The College nowadays and Geddes’ heritage in France

Thanks to th
Metagraphies
non-profit, the whole site was gazetted as a ”Monument historique” in December 2013. Until then, the

Cité internationale universitaire de Paris Cité internationale universitaire de Paris () or the Cité universitaire (CIUP or ''Cité U'') is a university campus, a private park and foundation located in Paris, France. Since 1925, it has provided general and public services, including ...

was the only students’ hostel to be considered so. With Metagraphies, Sabine Kraus has organised commented visits of the College on several occasions,Cf. for instance a visit in May 2013 with the association “Moments d’écriture�
on line
or in Septembre 2015 during the “Journées européennes du patrimoine�

in order to illustrate ''in vivo'' how « Geddes’ human ecology unifies Nature and Civilisation ». By Leaves We Live, ''Vivendo Discimus'', Conservative Surgery, Think Global Act Local, the Valley Section,… by wandering through the actual site, everyone can see how « All these concepts are engraved into the form of ''thinking machines'' on the walls of the Scottish Pavilion, as well as modeled in the landscape ».

References

External links

*Emilie Boyer King (Jul. 5, 2004)
Anniversary makeover for Geddes garden
''The Scotsman''. *Section of metagraphies.org, Sabine Kraus’ website entirely dedicated to Patrick Geddes�

*The official document o

on website Moments d’écriture. {{DEFAULTSORT:College des Ecossais, Montpellier Education in Montpellier Educational institutions established in 1924 1924 establishments in France