L’Oasis d’Aboukir by Patrick Blanc – Paris
What if the marriage between concrete and plants was made to last? An extremely simple question for Patrick Blanc, renowned botanical researcher and artist, who, on the occasion of Paris Design Week, inaugurated his Oasis d’Aboukir on September 10, 2013. A unique plant wall, paying homage to biodiversity in the heart of Paris’s2nd arrondissement.
A private initiative, this large-scale project seems intent on reconciling the urban environment with biodiversity in a coherent, self-serving manner. Installed on a gable wall in the heart of the Montorgueil – Réaumur – Sébastopol – Grands Boulevards triangle, this 250 m2 plant monster is poised to offer a new space for well-being and exchange in a neighborhood long left to its own devices. It’s a real haven for biodiversity, and an effective one at that, too, since regularly supplied with water, the plants can grow naturally and sustainably on any rock without damaging it. In fact, Patrick Blanc is about to create a truly natural environment, using only man-made materials. A life-size challenge for the Botanist, whose ecological and social stakes are eminently important when we know that only plants have the power to depollute against gases and other toxic elements, all too numerous in a metropolis like Paris.
From the setting up of the structures in February 2013 to the “baby wall” on June 19
Impatient to present this innovative artistic project, botanical artist Patrick Blanc says he is “delighted to contribute to the well-being and ecological awareness of the inhabitants of a historic district in the heart of Paris”, adding that “the installation took place under optimum conditions in just seven weeks”. A record for “The Green Man”, who at the same time is working on a multitude of projects, each more impressive than the last, including the walls of Kuala Lumpur (200m) and Sydney (150m), accompanied by his fellow architect Jean Nouvel, as they take on the highest spaces available for their creative follies.
Inaugurated at Paris Design Week as part of the Archi & Design program, Patrick Blanc’sOasis d’Aboukir will give way to a gigantic tableau vivant, both witness to and actor in the innovative association between plants and the city. To be discovered from September 10, 2013 on the corner of a small square, incognito, as if it were…natural.
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