The French excel at large-scale landscaping projects, whether the gardens at Versailles or, more recently, new parks in Paris designed by Alain Provost – the Parc Andre Citroen and the Parc Diderot at Le Defense.
The unifying feature of the new €95 million research and engineering campus in Marne la Vallée, a new town 20 kilometers outside of Paris, is a large undulating landscaped canopy. Perhaps following the precedent of Mecanoo’s Library at the Technical University, Delft, but on a larger scale, the undulating concrete roof of the new campus, designed by French architect Jean-Philippe
Pargade with Besson-Girard, landscape architect, provides an external park for students and staff to enjoy, under which are shared campus facilities with glazing that looks out to the new landscaping.
The new campus adds to its sustainable credential with a bio-climatic system to conserve energy, orientation for maximize solar gain, use of natural and rainwater harvesting. images
