“By understanding people, we better understand places, by understanding places, we better understand people”.
Agnès Varda
Installing conditions for use among tall grass…
The former service station had given way to drug dealers… The ambition of a public square with new uses was noble, but the residents, fearing the return of deviant activities under their windows, didn’t want any uses. No benches, no games, no equipment… nothing, just nothing… only a little tranquillity and nature.
Thus, PRAXYS designed a welcoming, fertile landscape, setting the conditions for a peaceful future… Laying the foundations for far-reaching change and letting time and people take their course. The extent of lawn and tarmac has been replaced by two meadows awaiting the cries of children, the tales of elders or the feverish silence of petanque players, whatever. Alcoves have been carved out of vegetation that encircles the square. One day, perhaps, they will host the benches.
PRAXYS is basing the future of this place on its memory. Here, riparian groves emit a fresh, damp atmosphere reminiscent of the Bièvre Valley, while the terracotta bricks recall an industrial past.
An urban forest, full of softness and promise, is driving a radical transformation of the neighbourhood.
Project Data
Landscape and urban planner contractor: PRAXYS
Other designers involved in the design of landscape:
InVARR (engineering)
L’HEURE BLEUE (light designer)
Project Location: Cachan, France (Val-de-Marne department)
Design year: 2016
Year Built: 2018
Photographer: Karolina Samborska
