The gardens of Musée du quai Branly
introduction / photos 1 / photos 2
photo: Paul Costigan
>>>Picture essay (November 2006)
Text from the musée site:
Designed by Gilles Clément, the garden forms an integral part of the museum.
A proliferation of foliage, sheltered from the bustle of the quay by a high glass palisade, it covers 18,000 m² and leaves all who pass through it (whether museum visitors, local inhabitants, or those simply enjoying a quiet stroll) with an impression of burgeoning flora.
Here, nature and culture combine – the garden is an ‘invitation to travel’ – secret paths, hillocks, pebbled walkways, pools to meditate and dream beside …
169 trees and some thirty plant species grow here: oaks and maples to the north, magnolias and cherry trees to the south.
Thanks to the museum being constructed on piles, the garden extends beneath it, and the building’s underbelly is planted with grassy clusters of undergrowth. It is here that museum visitors will find the exterior ticket offices.
The garden also accommodates an open-air theatre presenting a programme of shows, lectures and concerts.
from the Toronto Star , August 26 2006
Landscape architect Gilles Clément's garden, which separates the museum from the busy traffic along Quai Branly, feels like a setting out of a child's storybook, with turkey oaks, enormous Chinese vines and a variety of grasses offering an ideal escape into childhood fantasy. The 12-metre-high barrier between the garden and Quai Branly shelters you further.
>> images from a french architecture site
>> another french site - with a plan or two
>> a location plan
>> a link to the Musée web site
>> a roaming through the gardens with Paul Costigan
And the pictures tell the rest of the story.
>>>Picture essay (November 2006)
PS: and the building and its contents are pretty good as well!
