Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Park

Journal of Landscape Architecture

ISSN: 1862-6033 (Print) 2164-604X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjla20

A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Park

Zeltia Vega Santiago

To cite this article: Zeltia Vega Santiago (2015) A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Park, Journal of Landscape Architecture, 10:2, 44-57, DOI: 10.1080/18626033.2015.1058571 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18626033.2015.1058571

Published online: 12 Jun 2015.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 173

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rjla20

Download by: [Columbia University Libraries] Date: 19 May 2017, At: 10:12 NAME OF THE PROJECT Under the Sky The Louvre-Lens

LOCATION City of Lens in the Nord–Pas-de-Calais Region

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY/CLIENT Nord–Pas-de-Calais Region

DESIGNERS A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA (architects), Tim Culbert + Celia Imrey / and the Louvre-Lens Museum Park Imrey Culbert (exhibition design), Catherine Mosbach / mosbach paysagistes Zeltia Vega Santiago, D’ici là paysages et territoires, Paris, France CONSTRUCTION PERIOD 2009–2013

SURFACE SIZE/AREA 28 ha (total); 20 ha (park) Over the last four decades, French landscape architects have seen their roles in the TOTAL COST transformation of a territory gain importance. They have been exploring ideas that use € 150 million (total); site characteristics such as cultural and geological history, the question of the passage € 9 million (park) of time, and the impact of climate or the planting strategy as the main tools in changing a territory. Their contributions represent an alternative to architectural and planning approaches which focus principally on responding to a programmatic agenda. This paper examines the role of landscape architecture in the transformation of a former mining site in Lens, France. I present two projects: the Louvre-Lens Museum Park by Catherine Mosbach and the urban project Euralens Centralité by Michel Desvigne. Both proposals rely on the traces of the old mining industry and on vegetation dynamics in designing two schemes capable of evolving over time. The result: two projects with the power to change the territory by consolidating the mining history of the site and proposing a new landscape-based model for development.

Geomorphology / mining landscape / museum / transformation / vegetation dynamics

The Louvre Museum opened a new branch in Lens, a for- French landscape architect Catherine Mosbach, who designed mer mining city located a little over an hour from Paris by the 20 ha park that visitors need to cross in order to arrive at high-speed train, in December 2012. It functions as a new the museum building. The park accommodates grasslands, ‘wing’ of the museum in Paris, hosting part of the institu- picnic areas, a forest, an esplanade in front of the building, tion’s art collection, which is not exhibited in the capital and several promenades (Fig. 1). The Louvre-Lens, including city due, in part, to lack of space. The prestige of such a well- the building and the park, occupies the 28 ha of a former coal known museum project attracted many acclaimed architects, mine, pit 9–9b of Lens. This former mining site lies in the mid- such as Steven Holl, Zaha Hadid, Sejima and Nishizawa and dle of a company town that was built to provide housing for Associates (SANAA), and Rudy Ricciotti, who all participated the mine workers. It is a twenty-minute walk from the train in the international design competition launched in 2005. The station and thirty minutes from the ‘terrils jumeaux 11/19’_ competition was finally won by the team led by the Japanese twin slag heaps preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site architecture firm SANAA, in charge of designing the build- and which are visible from the museum’s park (Fig. 2). ing; Imrey Culbert Architects, the gallery designers; and, the

44 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 Figure 1 The park of the Louvre-Lens Museum. Photo, 30 June 2013

TERRILS JUMEAUX (SLAG HEAPS)

30’

ACCESS

COMPANY TOWN

LOUVRE-LENS MUSEUM ACCESS

TRAIN STATION ACCESS 20’

FÉLIX-BOLLAERT STADIUM

Figure 2 Location of the Louvre-Lens Museum

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 45 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago

NAME OF PROJECT Euralens Centralité

LOCATION Nord–Pas-de-Calais Region

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY/CLIENT Groupement de Commandes Euralens (City of Lens, City of Loos-en-Gohelle, City of Liévin, and Communaupole of Lens-Liévin)

DESIGNERS Michel Desvigne paysagiste (landscape architect), Christian de Portzamparc (architect and urban designer), Artelia (engineering firm), Inessa Hansch architect (urban furniture designer), and Studio Des Signes (graphic designer)

CONSTRUCTION PERIOD 2010–2016

SURFACE SIZE/AREA 1,200 ha

TOTAL COST € 20 million for the first phase (10 km of linear promenades, roads, and parking lots)

Figure 3 The project for Euralens. Photo, 30 June 2013

LOOS-EN-GAHELLE

Louvre-Lens Museum

LENS Train Station

LIÉVIN

EURALENS: 1.200 ha LOUVRE-LENS MUSEUM: 20 ha

Figure 4 Boundaries of the two proposals

46 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 The Louvre-Lens was intended to play a significant role in the try, the topography, climate, geology, and ecology of the site development of the region of Nord–Pas-de-Calais, and serve as to define two landscape projects. Their landscape proposals a catalyst for economic growth. Local and regional authorities combine ideas of multiplicity, flexibility, and temporality saw the opportunity to contribute to the rebirth of the region and relate to the site, without suggesting definitive form. through cultural tourism. They sought to emulate the suc- Because both projects assume an open strategy, they are not cess of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, through fully completed; they will go through different stages to cre- the so-called ‘Bilbao Effect’, the use of a prestigious cultural ate new stories. project with remarkable architecture as a driving force to This paper addresses an approach to the improvement bring renewal to a city (Percheron 2009: 29). Because cultural and transformation of a mining territory that makes land- tourism was expected to develop more successfully if addi- scape the driving force of its reorganization. I expected to tional development occurred in the region, an urban design witness this strategy through the study of both built works; competition was launched in the area around the Louvre- by understanding how they work, how they change, and Lens almost five years after the museum competition. Dan- what they do. I believe that due to my work as a practising iel Percheron, Senator for Pas-de-Calais and President of the landscape architect, direct experiences reflect and shape Nord–Pas-de-Calais Regional Council, argued that the urban my thinking. The field trip to Lens motivated me to under- project is expected to work in tandem with the museum to stand the passage from this conceptual landscape approach enhance the mining history of the site and to accommodate to the actual practice of landscape architecture. In both pro-

growth, making the region more attractive to new investors jects, I observed that an open landscape strategy could reveal (Ibid: 29). The proposal by French landscape architect Michel two important challenges that the traditional urban project Desvigne, together with architect Christian de Portzamparc usually overlooks when shaping a site: 1) the recuperation of was selected as the winning entry and became the master plan site specifics (vegetation, topography, water collection, and for the urban development project. soil strata), and 2) the inclusion of a ‘performative agenda’_ Catherine Mosbach and Michel Desvigne are two celebrated a series of actions that causes the development of a landscape French landscape architects today; both graduated from the over time (Raxworthy 2013: 64) (Fig. 4). I argue that both proj- well-known National School of Landscape Architecture in ects propose a switch from the architectural model more Versailles in the 1980s. During their studies there, they ac- commonly used to plan a territory in France to a landscape quired the expertise to work with existing site conditions. approach. Blanchon explains how the teaching approach in Versailles at that time focused on the knowledge of living dynamics and The city of Lens and the region of Nord–Pas-de-Calais their interactions with site specifics, relegating to a secondary The city of Lens belongs to a region called Nord–Pas-de-Cal- level the question of composition (Blanchon 1997: 208, 210). This ais, located in Northern France. The region was consolidated approach encouraged the development of a landscape prac- as one of the most important mining basins in France, extend- tice that seeks to transform the site rather than to preserve ing underground for almost 120 km in a west–east direction. it. In their proposals, Mosbach and Desvigne use a common The region’s mining history began with the discovery of coal element_the traces of an industrial landscape highly modi- at the end of the eighteenth century. The basin was divided fied by the mining industry for almost two centuries. Mos- into eighteen lots corresponding to the eighteen mining bach makes evident the different strata of the former mine companies exploiting the site (Fig. 5). Each company shaped in the park: underground materials are brought to the sur - the landscape in its own manner, building the necessary face as reminders of its mining history and as construction infrastructure to allow the operation of the mines and con- elements. The existing vegetation is understood as one of the structing company towns for their workers. Soon, the changes evolutionary stages of the park. Desvigne’s project proposes to brought to the agricultural landscape became permanent and transform the existing geography by intensifying the vegeta- the region became known as the ‘Black Land’, due to the pres- tion that grew after the decline of the mining industry (Fig. 3). ence of visible landmarks, such as cavaliers (elevated railways The work of both Mosbach and Desvigne is expected to con- that connected the mines and the train stations to allow the tribute to the transformation of the mining territory. They distribution of coal), terrils (mountains of scoria), and pits that each use site specifics such as the remains of the past indus- the mining industry constructed in the landscape.

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 47 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago

1 COMPAGNIE DES MINES DE BÉTHUNE

2 COMPAGNIE DES MINES DE CARVIN

3 COMPAGNIE DES MINES DE COURRIÈRES

4 SOCIÉTÉ HOUILLÈRE DE LIÉVIN

SOCIÉTÉ DE MINES DE LENS

2 1

Location of the Louvre-Lens Museum

120 KM

Figure 5 Location of the mining basin of Nord–Pas-de-Calais.

This coal industry shaped the territory of Lens into a kind de la Glissoire (Briand & Mousquet 2006: 21). However, without of ‘archipelago’ (Lapayagence 2013). The urban fabric was more specific regulations, many visible traces of the region’s organized as independent islands on which the mines and industrial past were erased and mining pits remained deserted. the company towns rested, and the leftover spaces between After the 1990s, there was a shift in goals influenced by social them contained some of the green spaces, or the infrastruc- and political engagements in green environmental agendas. ture that connected the mines (Desvigne 2012). This distinct Instead of specific interventions, the creation of the Mission structure implied a fragmented territory of independent clus- Bassin Minier Nord–Pas-de-Calais established a new model ters with no connection between them. These were articulated for the urban and economic development of the territory, and on three levels: 1) the underground level, where a network of landscape was designated as the tool that would allow this passages was built to allow coal extraction; 2) the ground level, development (Briand & Mousquet 2006: 21). where company towns were established; and 3) the upper level, The transformation of a post-industrial territory such where the infrastructure needed for coal extraction and treat- as Nord–Pas-de-Calais, is neither new nor unique in Europe. ment was located. Starting in the 1960s, energy consumption In fact, Germany and Great Britain developed initiatives for patterns changed in France and other industrialized coun- the appreciation of industrial landscapes earlier than France tries, with the demand for coal decreasing in favour of other (Kourchid & Melin 2002: 42). A good example is the transforma- energy sources such as oil or gas (De Ladoucette 2004: 10, 13). As tion of the Emscher River in the region of the Ruhr during the a consequence, the less productive pits were shut down and 1990s. The area was revitalized through the implementation of deserted, production decreased, and jobs were lost. Indeed, a landscape strategy that integrated the remaining industrial the decline of the coal industry left behind a highly modi - monuments with economic development (Shannon 2006: 148). fied and polluted landscape shaped by wastelands and frag- Another strategy would be the case of Bilbao, another former mented urban structures. Local authorities felt obliged to do mining city, which relied on a cultural project to activate the something to improve the situation through different incen- transformation of the city. Although authorities suggested tive programs. Those actions can be divided into two periods, that landscape become a tool to ‘control urban development’, before and after the 1990s (Kourchid & Melin 2002: 42). During the proposals in Lens did not follow, in the beginning, a land- the 1970s, actions were principally carried out by local associa- scape approach (Briand & Mousquet 2006: 21). The first interventions and management. Mining pits were subject to different tion focused its efforts on the setting up of a cultural project, responses: some became activity areas and others were trans- the Louvre-Lens Museum, to boost the economic develop- formed into large parks, such as the Parc de la Lawe or the Parc ment in the area.

48 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 LOW HORIZONTAL BUILDING (6 m)

BLURRED REFLECTIONS OF THE LANDSCAPE IN THE ALUMINIUM FAÇADE

Figure 6 The integration of the building into the park: the building top will be lower than the treetops (the building is only 6 m high) and the aluminium façades create blurred reflections of the landscape. Photo, 30 June 2013

Fig13 P Fig1

Fig11,12 Fig7

Fig10 Fig14 Fig9

P Fig3 Fig16 Fig18

Figure 7 Location of the photos

The Louvre-Lens Museum Park The Louvre-Lens Museum was the centrepiece of a master The museum site was a former coal mine, close to the city plan that had not yet been implemented at the time of the centre. After the mine was shut down, it remained a brown - design competition for the museum in Lens. In fact, the field site for more than forty years. Consequently, spontane- museum was expected to carry the responsibility of leading ous vegetation re-colonized and covered the mineral sur- an urban development project similar to the Guggenheim faces, even creating a forest with vegetation adapted to the Museum in Bilbao. Moreover, if we look at the short list of acidity of the soil at the western edge of the site. This aban- architects that submitted their proposals, we could suggest donment stage is understood by Mosbach to be an asset; she that the local authorities wanted to draw attention to the perceives the site as a living organism, able to develop over building by selecting a ‘star architect’ to design it. Neverthe- time just like her intervention. less, I would argue that Mosbach’s proposal for the park was Mosbach’s proposal for the Louvre-Lens Museum Park able to free itself from the building. Her project did not turn relies on the four existing cavaliers that come from outside out to be a design where landscape depends on an architec- the site and cross it to give access to the museum (Fig. 6). tural framework, such as the composition of a building or the They are redesigned as planted promenades that allow vis- architects’ desires. Instead, it is a design that evokes the geo- itors to follow the original paths that cargo cars used more morphology of the site, one that highlights the landscape’s than forty years ago. The situation of the building in the capacity for mutation to finally create a park that amplifies middle of the park does not interrupt the continuity of these the site’s mining heritage. promenades; in fact, its low horizontal shape defines the way to the museum entrance and its aluminium façade reflects the park, creating a continuous landscape (Fig. 6).

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 49 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago

EXISTING FOREST

CAVALIER (nowadays transformed into a promenade) Figure 8 The cavalier (elevated old mine railway track) through the forest developed after the shutdown of the pit. Photo, 30 June 2013

Mosbach seeks to make the history of the site obvious to visi- second element of the parvis, the perforations in the concrete, tors walking through those promenades. Her particular rein- are superficial holes filled with coal residue. They are princi- terpretation of its mining heritage consists of bringing to the pally located in the southern areas behind the building, and surface the subterranean components of the soil_limestones, their purpose is also to capture stormwater and filter it into siltstones, and scoria_using them as construction materi- the ground. Due to the existence of a permeable layer under als and exposing them to natural agents, such as time, wind, the stones, the holes have already started to be colonized by and water erosion, to create a park that evolves through nat- wild vegetation (Fig. 9). The last element corresponds to the ural and unpredictable processes (École d’archi [ULaval] 2011). cracks in the concrete. Some of them are intentionally planted Four elements articulate the design (Fig. 7). These are: 1) the and others are still bare, waiting to be colonized by sponta- wall that encircles the museum, made of limestone salvaged neous vegetation through the combination of environmen- from the site during the construction of the foundations and tal and geological processes (Fig. 10, 11). the basement of the building; 2) the cavaliers, former elevated All four elements are designed to create a performative railways transformed into planted promenades; 3) the forest landscape_a landscape whose development occurs through existing at the western side of the property, which represents a series of actions that cause its transformation over time the final stage of the colonization of the site by spontane- but whose effects are, in part, unpredictable (Raxworthy 2013: ous vegetation (Fig. 8); and, 4) the hard flat surface around 64). These elements are intentionally endowed with the the building or parvis, which is enlivened by earthen mounds capacity to be altered over time and express Mosbach’s inter- and perforations in the concrete. The mounds function as pic- est in revealing the dynamics of nature. The action of exter- nic areas, inviting inhabitation by museum visitors and also nal agents, such as climate, is not the only cause of change serving as protection against possible attacks to the museum. over time; design decisions also influence the transforma- Their construction details include an internal mesh that con- tion. The choice of a particular construction technique de- solidates the soil_organizing and giving cohesion to the fines the degree and the speed of the modifications. At least mounds and preventing them from collapsing. This slows three characteristics of the wall design slow down erosion: down the process of erosion through exposure to water or the percentage of the stabilizing agent added to the soil, the wind, or through their use as picnic areas. At the foot of the internal mesh, and the thin impermeable layer at the top mounds, pebbles recall the mining heritage of the site and that prevents water infiltration (Fig. 12). The internal mesh enable the filtration of the stormwater into the ground. The in the earth mounds should also slow down the decomposi-

50 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 Figure 9 The park opened in December 2012; a few months later the holes in the parvis have already started to be conquered by vegetation. Photo, 30 June 2013

Figure 10 The cracks planted with moss. Photo, 30 June 2013

Figure 11 A different kind of cracks. Unlike the others, these were not planted and they are waiting to be colonized by spontaneous vegetation. Photo, 30 June 2013

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 51 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago

Figure 12 The wall is made of recycled soil from the site, an internal mesh, and TOP LAYER TO AVOID INTERNAL MESH TO JOIN WATER INFILTRATION TOGETHER THE SOIL an impermeable layer at the top of to avoid its erosion and decomposition. Photo, 30 June 2013

Figure 13 At the bottom of the earth mounds, the lawn is too dry and faces the risk of disappearing. Photo, 30 June 2013

would be successful. The wall will not fall apart, it will erode slowly and some wild vegetation, such as ferns or grass, will ROUND SHAPE take over the holes left behind; how much space for growth THE BOTTOM IS TOO DRY the vegetation will have depends upon the level of maintenance. Wild vegetation would continue to appear in seasonal cycles in the holes and also in the cracks. The least stable ele-

THE GRAVEL ALLOWS ment might be the earth mounds. At the bottom, the form is WATER INFILTRATION too round and the lawn will not remain in its place_some- thing that would favour the erosion of the mound_and since footsteps will also damage the bottom more than other parts, decomposition could be an additional effect. It will be interesting to see how the park evolves over the next years and how its transformation takes place.

Euralens Centralité In 2010, the construction of the museum had already begun. tion process, but the marked curve in contact with the gravel However, there was no urban development project to con- at the foot of the mounds could have the opposite effect (Fig. nect the Louvre-Lens with the rest of the city and with the 13). Finally, the holes in the concrete seem to lack design con- train station. The urban scheme elaborated by the SANAA and straints that protect them from being taken over by vegetation. Mosbach teams during the competition phase of the Louvre- The ability to mutate is part of the design strategy that Lens Museum was not further developed, but it provided the links the new design for the park with the continuous evolu- opportunity to look at the territorial scale. Mosbach took into tion to which the site has been exposed over the last forty years. account the network of cavaliers and pits in her design. [1] As a Mosbach ‘uses the relationship of inorganic materials and the result, local authorities decided to promote an urban design meteorological environment to create change and stimulate competition asking for proposals that could accommodate growth’ (Raxworthy 2013: 99). The particular re-occupation of the growth of the territory while still preserving its histo- the site proposed by Mosbach might be just the first stage of ry. The project area, known as Euralens, covers a larger ter- an intervention that would explore ideas of flexibility and ritory than the city of Lens, up to 1,200 ha, and includes the temporality. In fact, Mosbach’s project is intended to be only three cities of Lens, Liévin, and Loos-en-Gohelle. The public one of the multiple evolutionary stages of the site. Howev- tender called for teams formed by both architects and land- er, if the constant change of the site is the leitmotif of the scape architects. Third place was awarded to a team headed Louvre-Lens Museum Park, it could also be its limitation_it by the landscape firm Agence Ter. Second place was held by is an irreversible process. The change is partly random and a team led by the architect Dominique Perrault. The win- unpredictable and, consequently, it is difficult to determine ning entry was the proposal submitted by landscape archi- the kind and level of maintenance, and to establish if the result tect Michel Desvigne, who participated in collaboration

52 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 LOOS-EN-GOHELLE m os bach pay s a g i te

TERRILS

LENS

P LOUVRE-LENS MUSEUM

P P TRAIN STATION

LIÉVIN

Figure 14 The master plan: the ‘forest’ continuum is the framework that guides urban mutations. with architect Christian de Portzamparc. Having a landscape his proposal for Lens and he does it through the transforma- architect lead a team for an urban project is still not com- tion of the cavaliers. Another reference that may have influ- monplace in France. Michel Desvigne and Alexandre Cheme- enced Desvigne’s project, although he does not refer to it, is toff, another landscape architect who has also worked in for- the Emscher Park project in the Ruhr region, Germany, also mer industrial areas, such as the transformation of the Île de a former mining area. Its landscape approach, a green corri- Nantes in Nantes, are both exceptions to this. Typically, the dor connecting isolated spaces to create a park system, could attitude towards urban renewal exists within the traditional be a good model for the network of corridors that Desvigne framework of urban design, and as a result, it is the architects has been developing in Lens (Shannon 2006: 148). and urban designers who are the team leaders. The selection The cavaliers formed the elevated rail infrastructure that of a landscape architect as team leader should be seen as a connected the mines but they were abandoned after the change of the ambitions that have shaped strategies for a ter- decline of the mining industry. Over the years, the rails ritory’s development. Now, landscape could become a driv- were covered with spontaneous vegetation until they were ing force for urban regeneration in Lens. It could guide the completely colonized and became cordons boisés (green rib- transformation of the territory and answer the demands of bons). In Desvigne’s proposal, the cavaliers acquire a nota- temporality and adaptation, and environmental issues. The ble importance; he is able to transform them into a quali- incorporation of such qualities into a design strategy distin- tative element that guides urban transformation. During guishes Desvigne’s practice from traditional urban models of the process, Desvigne does not propose a tabula rasa. On the territorial development and from other landscape strategies contrary, he relies on the elements that compose the cava- that would rather focus on formal composition. liers, such as vegetation, identifiable routes, or topography, American park system planning of the nineteenth century, to inform his design. Through the intensification of these exemplified by Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace elements, the cavaliers are expanded and redesigned to form in Boston or by the Green Necklace in Minneapolis, has a green continuum_a network of corridors_capable of influenced Desvigne’s work. He points out that those projects accommodating new activities, new settlements, cultural make evident the geography of the site, which has been used spots, and new forms of mobility with the aim of making to design the territory. The amplification of this geography the area more attractive to new investment (Fig. 14). resulted in projects which were partly designed and artificial, The urgent need to provide convenient access to the Lou- and partly unaffected and natural (Desvigne 2011b: 73). Desvi- vre-Lens from the train station meant that the project need- gne seeks to introduce this method of shaping a territory in ed to move forward as quickly as possible, causing the con-

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 53 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago

EXISTING VEGETATION (exiting trees and undergrowth vegetation)

PRAIRIE

NEW TREES

PRAIRIE

Figure 15 The transition between the old and the new cavalier is almost imperceptible. The planting strategy in the new cavalier seeks to imitate the ‘natural appearance’ of the old cavalier. Photo, 30 June 2013

CAVALIER RUE JEAN LÉTIENNE CAVALIER RUE PAUL BERT CAVALIER (in front of the Louvre-Lens Museum) elevated pedestrian promenade leading to the Louvre-Lens Museum h=20– 30 m fully developed trees

wall existing train existing Louvre-Lens housing station housing Museum

existing planted existing road planted asphalt planted existing planted existing road planted asphalt pathway+ swale planted pathway planted sidewalk strip section strip pathway strip or sidewalk strip section strip rest area strip strip rest area

Figure 16 Three different profiles of the cavaliers that lead to the museum

54 Journal of Landscape Architecture | 2-2015 PLANTED STRIP

PLANTED STRIP

REST AREA

ASPHALT PATH

Figure 17 The different elements composing the promenade: two planted strips, rest areas, and an asphalt path. Photo, 30 June 2013

struction and conceptual phases to overlap with each other. (Desvigne 2011a: 37). They are considered experiments which Construction has already begun. The cavalier that leads to allow for the evolution of the project at any stage of the the museum has been built, as have several parking lots design; it can be reviewed, updated, and adapted during the which serve the museum. The renovation of the neighbour- process of both conceptualization and construction. hood around the station district will start soon. The exist- Desvigne's proposal reinforces the existing vegetation, ing cavaliers have been reconfigured to become promenades making its physical presence even more evident. The cava- and new ones have been built to complete the network. They liers are not designed as simple green promenades in their have been designed with a reduced number of elements_an traditional form as landscape features, but as a necklace that asphalt or concrete path, basic urban furniture, and vegeta- provides unity and structure to the territory (The Harvard GSD tion_and the construction technique does not require com- 2013). They are devised to absorb the different flows_pedes- plicated details. The result has turned out as expected, with- trians, runners, cyclists, and motor vehicles_and to create a out surprises_the project looks very natural and raw. New variety of sequences in the promenade (Fig. 16). This breaks and existing cavaliers blend together, making it difficult to the monotony of strollers, who will experience changing spa- tell when one finishes and another starts (Fig. 15). In addi- tial emotions and rhythms. Starting at the train station, the tion to the network of cavaliers, Desvigne’s master plan also new cavalier has to accommodate to the existing network of includes an increase in the density of the existing urban fab- circulation. In this case, the intervention does not alter the ric in the company towns, achieved through building variety section of the roadway but reshapes the sidewalk profile. The of new public facilities and creating several eco-cities. Because new section is formed by a central pathway, which is some- the project is still in its early stages, the network of cavaliers times widened to create small rest areas, and by tree strips will need to be reviewed so that they can be interspersed with planted on each side (Fig. 17). For the time being, trees are not offices, shops, roads, and housing, and respond to the devel- yet very developed, but a canopy effect starts to be perceptible opment pressure on the city. The importance of those first and vegetation envelops visitors on their way to the museum. actions rests in that they serve as models for future devel- Somewhere between two and three decades will be needed for opment; once they have been tested, they can be readjusted the new green ribbons to achieve maturity and impact. The

2-2015 | Journal of Landscape Architecture 55 A collection of stories: Euralens Centralité and the Louvre-Lens Museum Zeltia Vega Santiago m os bach pay s a g i te

Figure 18 The design for the park

density of vegetation is a key feature in the project because change the status of the cavaliers, which in the new project

it provides unity to the entire structure of ribbons. Desvigne have a significant position in the territory. This changed the assimilates a nineteenth-century planting concept, where the inhabitants’ perception and opened the door for a new project planting of trees sought to imitate a more ‘natural appear- on a larger scale that links the existing parks. However, the ance’. This effect is expected to be obtained through the high intervention is not very complex, perhaps due to the fact that number of trees planted in each linear strip and the small it is still in an early stage. In the design of the new cavaliers, spaces between them; some of them are less than one meter Desvigne replicates the model of the existing ones because it apart (Fig. 18). As years go by, the most probable outcome will is known to work: dense vegetation, a pathway between the be that the trees start to compete with one another to obtain trees, rest areas along the way, and few modifications of the sunlight and instead of growing vertically, some of them will existing conditions. Desvigne does not take too many risks as turn and twist to reach the necessary light while others will the project changes its scale and transitions from the study not achieve full maturity. In this way, Desvigne will create phases to actual construction and implementation. This is the effect of walking through a forest. After passing the train one of the differences between his approach and Mosbach’s, station, this new cavalier joins the existing one. The design is who in my opinion, gives more importance to the complex- very respectful of existing conditions; it integrates an asphalt ity of the composition. path without disturbing the existing natural features and old and new cavaliers blend together_the difference between one Conclusion and the other is not entirely perceptible. When approaching Both interventions can be understood as living organisms; the entrance of the Louvre-Lens Museum Park, the cavalier they are able to evolve by themselves, each one in its own adjusts to Mosbach’s design; the path widens and a prairie way, over time. In their proposals, the designers use specific extends along both sides of the pathway. landscape tools, such as vegetation, topography, or soil struc- Like Mosbach, Desvigne creates a project which is able to ture, but in very different ways. Mosbach’s design does not evolve over time, through a natural process. He is not inter- go unnoticed; in fact, I would say that it would be the grey ested in making a form but, instead, the processes of change, transparent building which runs the risk of becoming ‘invisi- planting, and management that occur over time. Those pro- ble’. I think that the idea of using the subterranean soil strata cesses might prepare the site for future interventions and as construction elements and letting them evolve through a add flexibility, temporality, and permeability to the design. natural process is highly attractive. Her particular approach I believe that the project is successful in assigning to land- allows us to see the alteration almost from the moment the scape the role of guiding transformation. The office argues construction has been completed; it is not necessary to wait that they did not look for a big gesture. [2] Their aim was to two or three decades to perceive it. It is also interesting how

56 Journal of Landscape Architecture / |spring 2-2015 2011 she plays with the passage of time_holes and cracks respond Nevertheless, the achievement of Mosbach and Desvigne has to seasonal changes, and the earth mounds and the wall to been to detach their interventions from an architectural and the passage of years. In contrast to this, Desvigne’s proposal planning framework. Their projects use the specific tools is expected to evolve very slowly and by the time the trees of of landscape architecture to their fullest advantage. Here, the cavaliers achieve maturity, it may be even more difficult to landscape does not have a secondary role; in fact it takes a differentiate the existing conditions from the interventions. position that is at least equal in importance to the architec - Personally, I think that Desvigne’s theoretical approach and tural project of the museum. However, interventions of the methods are quite appealing but when he translates ideas to kind designed by Mosbach and Desvigne are still exceptions the physical site, his interventions appear to be too plain and within the French context. simple. The amplification of the existing geography and the quest for a total integration into the site could cause the project to fade away without impacting the territory.

Notes Biographical note

1 Additional information received in the course of a telephone Kourchid, O. and Melin, H. (2002), ‘Mobilisations et mémoire Zeltia Vega Santiago was trained as an architect and urban call with mosbach paysagistes in April 2015. du travail dans une grande région: le Nord-Pas-de-Calais et designer. She works as a landscape architect in the private sec- son patrimoine industriel’, Le Mouvement social February 2002/ tor in France and participates as a volunteer in her neighbour- 2 Additional information received in the course of a telephone 199: 42. hood, advising on urban and landscape issues. Her research call with Michel Desvigne Paysagiste in April 2015. interests range from landscape transformation processes and Lapayagence (2013), Michel DESVIGNE – Inessa HANSCH – Expé- adaptative landscape, to the reclamation of mining sites. riences de Paysage – 23 février 2013 [online video], www.youtube. References com/watch?v=unTWYjc54cs, accessed 18 April 2014 Blanchon, B. (1997), ‘Les paysagistes en France depuis 1945: Percheron, D. (2009), ‘Le Louvre à Lens’, Le Journal de l’Ecole de Contact l’amorce d’une indiscipline ou la naissance d’une profession’ Paris du manegement 87/2009: 29, http://ecole.org/en/seances/ Zeltia Vega Santiago in Les espaces publics modernes (Paris: Groupe Moniteur), 208, 210. SEM466, accessed 10 January 2014 D’ici là paysages et territoires Briand, G. and Mousquet, F. X. (2006), ‘Reversing the Image Raxworthy, J., ‘Novelty in the Entropic Landscape: Landscape Paris and Nantes, France of a Coal Basin’, Topos 56/2006: 21. Architecture, Gardening and Change’, Ph.D. diss. Phone: +33-6-16-61-48-44 (The University of Queensland, 2013): 64, 99. [email protected] Desvigne, M. (2011a), ‘Trouver la juste échelle’, in Le Paysage en préalable (Marseille: Editions Parenthèses), 37. Shannon, K. (2006), ‘From Theory to Resistance: Landscape Urbanism in Europe’, in The Landscape Urbanism Reader Desvigne, M. (2011b), ‘Tirer partie du paysage minier dans le (New York: Princeton Architectural Press), 148. schéma directeur du Louvre-Lens’, in Actes du séminaire paysage [Actes], 73, http://fr.calameo.com/read/001332236c0cd85965fe9, The Harvard GSD (2013), Intermediate natures [online video], accessed 02 February 2015 www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHlkLtd6nxw, accessed 10 January 2015 Desvigne, M. (2012), Ville en mutation: enjeux et perspectives [re- port], www.fimbacte.com/uploaded/files/expo12/crparis.pdf, accessed 18 April 2014 École d’archi (ULaval) (2011), Instantanés d’architecture 2011–2012: Catherine Mosbach [online video], http://vimeo.com/34479945, accessed 10 January 2015 De Ladoucette, P. (2004), ‘Charbonnages de France et la société française’, Les annales des Mines May 2004: 10, 13.

Journal2-2015 of Landscape | Journal Architecture of Landscape / Architecture spring 2011 57