Familistère Garden

designed by BASE Landscape Architecture /

Location: France / Type: Nature Paths / Parks / Built: 2008 /
Show on Google Maps / Published on February 28, 2011

BASE: In March 2002, BASE won a practical contest to design the contemporary garden of the Familistère in Guise (Aisne). The first installment has been completed, the second one is in progress. Situated on an ancient 9 ha island with poplar plantations, the garden is regularly inundated by the severe flooding of the river Oise. 30,000 m3 of earthworks have been necessary to construct an embankment on an oxbow lake of the Oise and soften the general profile of the banks, all of which forms a promenade by the water. The garden is divided in 400 triangular parcels of 100 to 700 sq.m each, with 4 different matters: shrub, bush, meadow and grass. The population played a part in the works through a plants’ sponsoring system that BASE had proposed during the contest. A 6000 sq.m lagooning/filtration corridor purifies water from the river Oise and feeds into an outside basin with pebbles and small white concrete areas. Wooden pontoons allow for all-season ‘dry-foot’ navigation through the garden. This cosines/comfort in the outdoors comes as a tribute to the social side of controversial, charismatic and enlightened entrepreneur Jean-Baptiste Godin (1817-1888).

Landscape Architecture: BASE landscape designer mandatory + atelier Lab architects + Pierre-Yves Fafournoux ingineer
Location: Guise / Aisne
Budget: 1,5 M€
Area: 9 ha
Completed: 2008

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