A memorial garden for the victims of the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks

The memorial garden in the Place Saint-Gervais square offers a balance between hardscape and softscape, in a space integrating memorial gatherings and daily life (wandering, resting). Two side pathways lined with plane trees frame a hardscape central surface, paved in polished black asphalt speckled with white aggregate. This large, uniform rectangle, stretching from one side of the square to the other, is punctuated with symbolic features: the water, the stone, the garden, the Olive Tree, the Elm of Justice, and the memorial plaque. A shallow, abstract-shaped reflecting pool stretches across the center of the square. A rough stone of unpolished granite rises from the pool, like a small island. Water flows gently from channels tunneled through the stone, transforming it into a fountain. The names of each victim are carved into the stone’s surface. Tufts of lush flowering herbs and grasses bloom from the asphalt. In the middle of these tall grasses stands the squat and gnarled Olive Tree of Remembrance. A symbol of peace, the tree represents hope for a peaceful coexistence for all.