JARDIN DU MULTILINGUISME

LUXEMBOURG

JARDIN DU MULTILINGUISME

LUXEMBOURG

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"Figurehead" of the Kirchberg Plateau, the European Court of Justice brings together a very large number of users in imposing buildings. The architect Dominique Perrault has been designing its successive extensions since 1996. For the fifth extension, MDP was entrusted with the implementation of a temporary garden as an extension of the forecourt of the new tower.

This third tower houses the offices of jurists and linguists, as well as a belvedere terrace at the top. It offers an extensive view of the wooded hillsides and agricultural fields of the Luxembourg landscape. On the ground, the “garden of multilingualism” will offer a miniaturization of it, both familiar and different.

The garden refers to the typology of agricultural landscapes by playing with its characteristic components that are the plantation lines. Its concept is simple: on a vast continuous lawn are installed different wefts of shrubs, interspersed with plots of orchards and some clearings.

This garden will have the particularity of being approached in two different ways. Its composition will be considered from two points of view: the plunging view from the towers, and the dynamic, kinetic perception of the visitors who will cross it. Two points of view, two types of experience.

Seen from the tower, the lawn with its precise boundaries offers a strong legibility. It creates a continuous and controlled ground where graphic elements are installed, composing a sort of patchwork of different kinds of shrubs. Its patterns are comparable to the agricultural furrows that domesticate the landscape and give it shape. The transposition of this elementary writing is precisely established. Its dimensions are adapted to the uses and maintenance of the garden, and to its perception from an overhanging view.

On the ground, the experience is very different. It is that of a landscape without explicit form. A path connects the entrances of the garden and leads to the forecourt of the tower. It crosses the fabric of the "patchwork” and its "rooms". Its layout is meticulously set on a continuous topography that accentuates the kinetic effect and specifies the points of view. The diagonal crossing is placed on an almost horizontal, its central part can accommodate uses, furniture, events and works of art. The geometrical vegetal patterns show a very rich landscape thanks to the continuous slopes. Plots of orchards create more intimate places that escape the gaze overlooking the towers.

data
Year:
2020
Status:
Built
Program:
Gardens
Client:

Fonds d’urbanisation et d’aménagement du plateau de Kirchberg

Project Team:

MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
Espace et Paysages

Area:

1,2 ha