Parc André Citroën
Encyclopedia
Rive Gauche
La Rive Gauche is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank is to the right....
of the river Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
in the XVe arrondissement
XVe arrondissement
The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Rive Gauche of the River Seine and sharing the Montparnasse district with the 6th and 14th arrondissements, it is the city's most populous arrondissement...
(district) of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The park was built on the site of a former Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
automobile manufacturing plant
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
, and is named after company founder André Citroën
André Citroën
André-Gustave Citroën was a French industrialist. He is remembered chiefly for the make of car named after him, but also for his application of double helical gears.- Life and career :...
.
History
In 1915, Citroën built his factory on the banks of the Seine; it operated there until closure in the 1970s. At that time, 24 hectares (59 acre) were thus freed up and included in the capital's "urbanization" policy and gave rise to the Parc André Citroën. It was created at the beginning of the 1990s and was officially opened in 1992. Responsible for its design are the French landscape designers Gilles ClémentGilles Clément
Gilles Clément, born at Argenton-sur-Creuse, Indre, France in 1943, is a gardener, garden designer, botanist, entomologist and French writer. He has gained attention for his design of public parks in France, such as Parc André-Citroën. In 1998, he was the recipient of France's National Landscape...
and Alain Provost
Alain Provost
Allain Provost is a French Landscape Architect. His works include designs for the Parc Floral in the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, Parc André Citroën in Paris, the Jardin Diderot at La Défense, La Courneuve Park in Seine-Saint-Denis, Ile-de-France, the Eurotunnel in Calais , the Technocentre Renault,...
, and the architects Patrick Berger, Jean-François Jodry and Jean-Paul Viguier
Jean-Paul Viguier
Jean-Paul Viguier is a French architect. He is considered one of the world's leading architects and one of the few French ones to work extensively outside of Europe...
.
Design
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
pavilions (hosting exotic plants and Mediterranean vegetation) at the Eastern, urban end, which are separated by a paved area featuring dancing fountains. The South edge of the lawn is bounded by a monumental canal — the "Jardin des Métamorphoses" — composed of an elevated reflecting pool
Reflecting pool
A reflecting pool or reflection pool is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and at memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a calm reflective...
that reaches through granite guard houses, lined by a suspended walkway. On the North side are two sets of small gardens: the six "Serial Gardens", each with a distinct landscape and architectural design, and a "Garden in Movement" that presents wild grasses selected to respond at different rates to wind velocity
Wind speed
Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate.Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications....
. A 630-meter diagonal path cuts through the park, which constantly changes in its nature.
Since 1999, the park has been home to a moored
Moored balloon
A moored balloon is an inflated fabric structure, often shaped like an airship and usually filled with helium, that is restrained by a cable attached to the ground or a vehicle. Moored balloons differ from airships and free balloons in that it is not free-flying.Moored balloons are sometimes...
gas balloon
Gas balloon
A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small rubber party balloons...
. It allows visitors to rise above the Parisian skyline, and is currently operated by the Banque Populaire. The balloon is filled with 6000 cubic meters of helium. It is 32 meters high and has a diameter of 22 meters. It is moored to the ground with a hydroelectrically-activated cable. It can rise to an altitude of 150 meters and has a carrying capacity of 30 adults, or 60 children. The balloon provides a view of the Champ de Mars
Champ de Mars
The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war...
, the River Seine, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur
Basilica of the Sacré Cœur
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica , is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city...
and the Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
Cathedral.
Themes
The six serial gardens are each associated with a metal, a planet, a day of the week, a state of the water, and a sense.- The blue garden: copper, Venus, Friday, rain, and the sense of smell,
- The green garden: tin, Jupiter, Thursday, spring water, and the sense of hearing.
- The orange garden: mercury (the metal), Mercury (the planet), Wednesday, creeks, and the sense of touch.
- The red garden: iron, Mars, Tuesday, waterfalls, and the sense of taste.
- The silver garden: silver, the Moon, Monday, rivers, and sight.
- The golden garden: gold, the Sun, Sunday, evaporation, and the 6th sense.