Bob’s petit séjour à Paris
11th July 2024
There’s a garden in Paris I’d not previously visited but always wanted to: Jardin Atlantique built above Montparnasse railway station. A couple of weeks ago I was in Paris for three days so I seized the opportunity. I was not disappointed. Created by landscape architects Brun, Pena and Schnitzler, the Jardin Atlantique was opened in 1994. According to Wikipedia the garden sits 17 metres high upon a large roof covering the tracks and platforms of the Gare Montparnasse. Cubes of stone filled with earth contain five hundred trees.
The plan of the garden was inspired by the historical role of the railway station connecting Paris to Brittany and the west, indeed the Atlantic Ocean. The planting reflects this through a series of themed gardens:
- Salle des Plants Ondoyantes. (grasses moving in the wind.)
- Salle des Humidités. (Aquatic plants.)
- Salle des Bleus and Mauves. (Flowers in blue and mauve.)
- Salle du Silence. (A secluded garden for meditation.)
- Salle des Rivages (Plants of the coast.)
But what particularly interested me was the central feature (a fountain) which provided meteorological information. The structure was a sort of high-tech weather station feeding real-time pressure, temperature, rainfall and wind information via a series of light emitting diodes, demonstrating the significant link with Atlantic influences on vegetation (Wikipedia says that the pine trees with their persistent scent give off a hint of the ocean).
At a time of climate crisis, this is also a useful reminder of global extreme weather events, how plants and animals can adjust and why landscape architecture has a central educative role. The garden is well worth a visit, not just to study, but also as a welcome tranquil space up and away from the surrounding city sounds. Next time you visit Paris, already a cornucopia of inspirational landscapes, try to include this one in your itinerary.
Bob Moore
A useful reference: https://doi.org/10.1080/14601176.2000.10435629
