Rabotpark

Ghent, Belgium

Rabotpark

Ghent, Belgium

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Rabotpark is a park dedicated to youth. Located on the site of an old freight station, it was completed in an extension of the new Palace of Jusctice, both of which were designed in collaboration with the architects Stéphane Beel and Lieven Achtergael.

In its relationship with the extremely remarkable architecture of the new building, the park becomes a kind of abstract composition. A rigorous orthogonal pattern incorporates numerous elements into an elementary geometry: rectangular grass lawns, embankments, simple concrete rectangles and plinths, raised gardens, and concrete steps all appear as contiguous, interconnecting elements whose combinations create a multitude of clearly defined spaces. The extensive and tactful implementation of concrete and the mastery of the site’s topography emphasize this constant spatial play of assembly.

A large grove of birch trees, and clearings within, is superimposed onto the whole, unifying the park beneath a homogenous stratum of trees.

data
Year:
1999 to 2007
Status:
Built
Program:
Parks, Equipments
Client:

Ville de Gand

Project Team:

MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
Stéphane Beel, Lieven Achtergael, architects (lead consultant)
Technum, engineers

Area:

4,3 ha (10,6 acres)