Parc André-Citroën is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

located on the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the river

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

in the

15th arrondissement of Paris The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...

. Built on the site of a former

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

automobile

manufacturing plant A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an Industry (manufacturing), industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with Outline of industrial machinery, machinery, where workers manufacturing, manufac ...

, the park is named after company founder

André Citroën André-Gustave Citroën (; 5 February 1878 – 3 July 1935) was a French industrialist and the founder of French automaker Citroën. He is also remembered for his application of double helical gears. Life and career Born in Paris in 1878, A ...

. When it opened in 1992, it was the largest park to open in Paris in more than a century.

History

In 1915, Citroën built its factory on the banks of the Seine where it operated until the 1970s. At that time, were vacated and subsequently addressed in Paris' urban plan, ultimately giving rise to the Parc André Citroën. The park was designed beginning of the 1990s by the French landscape designers

Gilles Clément Gilles Clément (; born at Argenton-sur-Creuse, Indre, France in 1943), is a French gardener, garden designer, botanist, entomologist and writer. He is the author of several concepts in the framework of landscaping of the end of the twentieth ce ...

and

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 (1972–2000) in Seine-Saint-Denis, � ...

and the architects Patrick Berger, Jean-François Jodry and

Jean-Paul Viguier Jean-Paul Viguier (born 4 May 1946) 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. Early works Graduated from the École nationale supérieure ...

Design

The park is built around a central, rectangular lawn of roughly 273 by 85 metres (895' x 279') in size. It is embellished with two

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

pavilions (hosting

exotic plants An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

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 A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

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 In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer. Wind speed a ...

. A 630-meter (690 yard) diagonal path cuts through the park. Since 1999, the park has hosted the Paris Balloon (Ballon Generali), a

tethered helium balloon A tethered, moored or captive balloon is a Balloon (aircraft), balloon that is restrained by one or more tethers attached to the ground so it cannot float freely. The base of the tether is wound around the drum of a winch, which may be fixed or m ...

which under optimal weather conditions can lift a maximum of 30 visitors 300 meters (1000') above Paris. The ten-minute ride provides views of the

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

, the River Seine, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

Cathedral. 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 "The 6th Sense" is the first single from Common (rapper), Common's 2000 album ''Like Water for Chocolate (album), Like Water for Chocolate''. It was produced by DJ Premier, making it the only song on Common's 2000 album not produced by a member o ...

. The white garden and black garden (of 1 and 2 hectares; 2½ and 5 acres respectively) are detached from the main 11-hectare (27 acre) section of the park.

References

External links

Parc André-Citroën - Paris.fr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parc Andre Citroen Buildings and structures in the 15th arrondissement of Paris Andre Citroen, Parc Landscape architecture Landscape design history Protected areas established in 1992

History

Design

See also

References

External links