The professional path taken, and the choices made by Philippe Niez, point at key elements of the trade of the gardener these last thirty years in France. They allow to point at the particularities of building a garden, its melting pot. This double perspective reflects the general situation of the trade, and the lessons involved in building a garden, along with the demands and wishes entrusted these days with this type of place. Neither an architect, nor a landscaper, nor an urbanist, or an agronomist, Philippe Niez gained an horticultural training at the école de Saint-Cyran, which no longer exists.

While studying, he met Gilles Clément, and became quickly one of his closest associates, staying with him for almost fifteen years. After the public site of the Parc André Citröen in Paris, which he managed from beginning to end, Philippe Niez started his own agency in 1995, with Alexandra Schmidt, architect. Along with his partner and associates, Philippe Niez takes private commissions (the bastide des terres in Mirmande) and public commission (the abbey of Seuilly or the Cachan university campus.)