2019 edition - Gardens of paradise

Cultiver les rêves

Festival International des Jardins

In this garden are three “wish trees” from which people have hung their dreams.

The spiral pathway alludes to the Tower of Babel, built to get closer to heaven.

The path leads to the centre of the plot where visitors can sit for a moment at a dining table. Around the spiral, "ornamental" and "agricultural" plants grow in a dazzling array of pastel shades

A majestic Acer saccharinum Born's Gracious (silver maple) is also found in this sacred area, representing the tree of life. It is connected to the ground by twenty-one white ribbons. The number 21 is the multiple of the symbolic numbers 3 and 7. The word "paradise" is written seven times on the ribbons in the native languages of the team members and the three liturgical languages (Latin, Greek and Slavonic).

DESIGNERS

Dagnachew G. ASEFFA, architect and urban planner, Delphine DESMET, engineer, architect and urban planner, Guillaume VAN PARYS, landscape designer and urban planner, Cédric DESMARETS and Michal BUČKO, landscape designers

BELGIUM

Dagnachew G. Aseffa studied Architecture at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) and completed his training with a Masters in Human Settlements (2009) and a Masters in Urbanism and Strategic Planning (2010) from KU Leuven University (Belgium). He is fascinated by the ways in which humanity shapes landscapes and pays particular attention to the sustainability of the approaches undertaken. An artist at heart, he is equally adept with a pencil as with a mouse at revealing the beauty of the places he designs. His professional experience in the BUUR and SWECO firms has enabled him to implement his values in landscape designs in both Brussels and Flanders. He recently set up his own studio, DGA, based in Brussels.

Delphine Desmet is an engineer, architect and urban planner, who graduated from UCLouvain University (Belgium) and is a member of the CUB (Belgian Chamber of Urban Planners). She has worked in architecture and urban planning agencies in Wallonia and Brussels (Charles Vandenhove & Associés, Dessin & Construction, BRAT and SWECO) where she developed her interest in projects linked to the design of public spaces. She sees the fun and poetic scope of these projects as particularly important. She cultivates her interest in the world by regularly drawing and singing.

Having trained as a landscape architect and completed an internship in Paris at the Interscène studio, Guillaume Van Parys enthusiastically committed to his urban design studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles research university (Belgium). These two complementary courses have contributed to broadening his vision of regional planning. Insatiable, curious and a real globetrotter, he loves to think outside the box while keeping his feet firmly on the ground. This duality is expressed in the innovative and lucid projects he designs.

Cédric Desmarets is an independent landscape architect, graduate of the Higher Education Institution Lucia de Brouckère in Brussels (Belgium) and member of the ABAJP (Belgian Association of Garden and Landscape Architects). He has worked with firms including Wirtz International, JNC International and SWECO and has developed an impressive track record in managing major urban planning projects. While supervising projects, he has gained knowledge regarding the implementation of various aspects linked to planning projects (including planting, mobility and hydraulics).

A landscape designer who graduated from the Horticulture and Landscape Engineering Faculty of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Michal Bučko also studied at the Blois National Graduate School of Nature and Landscape Architecture (France). He has acquired a wide range of experience as a landscaper, working on projects in Slovakia, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. His insatiable curiosity about different cultures and his adaptability have enabled him to develop spatial and regional planning projects in harmony with their physical and human environment.