Jardin du Luxembourg

In contrast to Parc Andre Citroen the Jardin du Luxembourg is one of Paris' most established and most popular parks. It's layout is based on a cross between the French and English classical garden. The park boasts large lawns alongside avenues lined with trees creating a great variety of space for all Parisians as well as the large number of tourists who flock here.

The park features a large number of statues, a bandstand, several fountains and ponds including the famous medincinal fountain. The design here puts a very different focus on maintenance to Parc Andre Citroen, with planting here being the main subject of attention without high maintenance surfaces and features.

Parc Andre Citroen

During my stay in France there was little time to visit landscape projects, however I did make some exceptions, one being a visit to Parc Andre Citroen. This is a contemporary park on the banks of the River Seine by Alain Provost and Gilles Clement and one which I remember visiting some years ago on a family holiday to the city.

The two large greenhouses at the northern end of the sight were the feature I remembered best, and these still provided an obvious and beautiful focal point to the site. Other features however were somewhat less impressive- the many many water features for example, of which almost all had clearly been out of use for some time. Even the greenhouses provided disappointment on closer inspection- they were locked out of use and one of the two was completely empty.

Despite these disappointments the park has a lot to offer and appears to be well used. The large central lawn area is a wonderful space (with or without the giant helium balloon which currently occupies it and offers visitors birds eye views of the city). There are also a series of tranquil themed gardens.
It is such a shame that the park has been subject to a lack of maintenance- maybe the design was too ambitions and contained too much water initially which has made costs spiral. Either way there must surely be some cost effective solutions to bring this park back up to the standard it should be. These issues have contributed to my decision to look at this park in detail as part of my Management Plans module at University this year.

Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage

I was lucky to be able to attend a weeks Landscape Architecture workshop at the French Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage (school of Landscape), based in the former kitchen gardens at the Palace of Versailles during September. The subject of the workshop was based around the publication of the greater Paris plan, which included proposals for urbanising additional land surrounding the city of Paris. Our task was to look at a site at Rungis, close to Orly Airport to the south of the city. Currently this land is put to agricultural use, but it is clear that the city's relentless growth will make this unsustainable.

Working in groups amongst students from many parts of the world with different skill bases a number of schemes were developed to incorporate this agricultural land into the urban plan for Paris. The group which which I was involved would aim to preserve the current landscape of agricultural fields by lifting the land and placing housing units beneath it, thus preserving the use of the land above and the view down the fields. The proposal not only created an interesting space but also instigated a new idealistic image of life in the fields without cars and with outstanding sustainable credentials- precedents for the project included the BedZed development near Wimbledon, London.

Giverny- Claude Monet's Garden

Less than a week after my return from Canada I found myself driving towards Paris with three of my student colleagues. We were on our way to Versailles to take part in a weeks Landscape workshop- more on that later...

It occurred to us that a natural place to stop on the journey was at Claude Monet's garden, Giverny, on the outskirts of Paris. Despite a slow drive giving us less than an hour to enjoy the spectacle of this site it agreed that it was all well worth the effort.

These gardens are spectacularly maintained despite the huge number of visitors who flock here. The gardens are arranged either side of the main road through the town of Giverny, on one side are the formal gardens, while the other side of the road are the more famous 'water Lilly ponds'.

For me personally the formal gardens had to be the highlight of the visit, particularly with the huge blooms sunflowers which dominated the garden. The combinations of vibrant colours, all of which were meticulously placed, made this sea of beautiful flowers quite special.

The Dunes of Prince Edward Island

The dune landscape has to be one of the most fascinating to exist. In just a few hundred meters one can travel from solid land to the ocean and witness all the stages of land development in between.

Created by the winds movement of sand, dunes by their very nature are fragile structures, first colonised by species such as lime grass and marram grass- one human footstep can literally set back dune development by many years. It is for this reason that the dune landscape must be managed if it is to survive.

On Prince Edward Island, Canada, Boardwalk paths have been built over the dunes to access the beach, while the dunes themselves are clearly fenced off from the public to discourage entry. Behind the pioneering line of the dunes dedicated footpaths and cycleways have been set up to allow people to enjoy the environment responsibly without damaging habitats. The use of natural materials in these projects hugely aids their aesthetic quality.

Education is important too of course- if people do not realise the ecological value of the dunes or the damage they can do to them it is unlikely they will respect this fragile landscape.