We were asked to look at an unclear area comprising of a series of residual spaces between development plots fronting the public highway, and an old industrial site.
The site, which used to be a haven for wild vegetation was populated with many plants, some of which came from South America, carried accidentally by ships and merchandise, fig trees and pampas grasses, representing a whole life that disappears as the city redevelops.
The design concept proposed a way to unify these spaces with the creation of a parterre carrying across the different areas, cutting through the road, the pavement, etc. Parterres were used in XVIIth century gardens as an aestheticization and a demonstration of the control of man over nature, working as a presentation of the mansion in the background. Contrary to the traditional box hedge parterre, the work at Harbourside is made of cuts in the ground surfaces to allow the urban vegetation to thrive in this controlled pattern, unifying all these left over spaces and bringing back some of the ruderal plants.
In collaboration with Grants Associates Landscape Architects.
