Reinvesting Rooftops

Carolina Foïs: How did you give form to this landscaped continuum?
Thomas Boucher: The idea of this landscaped continuum stems from the concept of a "city-landscape." A strong landscape has the power to structure a city sustainably, giving it a unique identity. Materializing this city-landscape is only possible when it is developed at a certain scale. It serves as a counterpoint to the eclectic, heterogeneous, even disparate character of the contemporary city.

Thus, at both the scale of the park and that of all the blocks, we combined our efforts to create this new urban paradigm or, perhaps, to revive a way of shaping the city from open spaces. For Block No. 08, I sought to design a garden that evokes the landscape of a belvedere hill overlooking the vast surroundings, topped by a cluster of pine trees.

It is essential to unfold a landscape and its imaginative power. Through the design of pathways and the play of created views, the staging of frames that blur boundaries, the installation of tree filters, the interplay of shadows and light, scents and fragrances, and the way spaces are sculpted in a kinesthetic relationship, as well as through varied atmospheres, the garden offers a richness of sensations akin to those found in a grand landscape.