THE ORDER – A PATH OF PEACE IN LES HAUTS-DE-FRANCE > A CREATIVE AND SCENIC JOURNEY ON THE SITES OF MEMORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Impacted by the brutality of the 20’s century wars, the region Hauts de France chose to celebrate tomorrow’s heritage and affirm its resilience in landscape art by creating an itinerary on the sites of memory of the Great War : the gardens of peace | Hauts-de-France.
This landscape project is unique and creates a brand new circuit of duty of remembrance. It was instigated by Arts & jardins | Hauts-de-France and the mission of the centenary of the First World War and pays tribute to the nations who chosed to embrace the cause of pacification of the modern world.
The gardens of peace – which will at the end spread themselves out over thirty sites thanks to the support of collectivities and sponsors – questions this peace and creates places to think, rest and self-reflect. Isn’t peace just an everyday companion that we are incapable of seeing and therefor sharing? And isn’t the artist the one who can magnify it?
The Armistice glade, in the Forest of Compiègne, is one of the most significant site of World War One. The Armistice was signed there, on the 11th of november 1918, in a rail coach, today worldwide known.
The garden of the third train, designed by the landscaper Marc Blume, the artist Gilles Brusset and the architect Francesca Liggieri, is a Franco-German project taking place around the allee joining the parking to the glade, making it a memorable walk before discovering the location of the Armistice.
Inside the undergrowth, the three designers thought about a symbolic and plastic parallel between the trails of the trenches of the Great War and the shapes drawed by the filaments of the mycelian network. Following this pattern, the paths of the garden make their way windingly through the foliage, creating rounded and planted areas where different essences of the forest can be seen. Adding itself to this maze leading to the discovery of the undergrowth, an elongated bench crosses the garden and invites contemplation. A multitude of mirrors are inserted in this wooden bench reflecting the sky and the leafs like a third train reflecting peace.
The garden of the third train is an undergrowth garden which embraces the vastness of humus. It takes on the perception of the visitors through their movement in space and encourage the discovery of a peacefull place by offering new, wringely and random paths.
He takes place like a third component between the trees and the people : a link that associates contemplation, meditation and celebration of life.
Light in the underwood – The garden guides the visitors to the light of the glade. The plants of this garden play with the light and slowly let it through making the walk paking/glade an enriched spatial experience.
The freedom of wandering – Winding paths invites the visitor to discover the environement that witnessed an important part of our history. This added walking space enhances the possibility of escaping the direct route to the glade and to freely wander through the forest becoming a vast monument of peace.
Extension of the routes – The shapes of the garden were inspired by a symbolic and plastic parallel between the trails of the trenches of the 14/18 war (attact and defend) and the figures drawed by the Mycelium (living and growing). The pattern of the micilian network is in sink with the drawing of the alles and paths that crosses the forest of Compiegne. It suggest the idea of an unlimited garden, always expanding as one walks through it.
The principal axis of the composition of the garden is materialised by the third train, a wooden sculpture which is 70m long. It echos to the two trains in which the Armitice of the 11th of november 1918 and the one of the 22nd of june 1940 where signed, in the glade of Rethondes.
The components of the garden are :
The earth and stone allees – they enable the individuals to walk through the underwood on dry ground. The pattern of the mycelian network inspired the drawing of these allees which create a capillary maze in the undergrowth meant to be discovered.
The gardened shapes – These rounded shapes are delimited by the allees and planted with essences of the forest. They are partially sealed with clay so that the raining waters wont flow away and represent little forests.
The third train – Floatting above the ground, the sculpture points towards the middle of the glade and crosses horizontally the underwood. It is decorated with tens of mirors oriented towards the sky making the scultpture shimmer like a precious jewel in the woods. One can sit or lay down on it on a summer evening contemplating the sky of peace filtered by the foiliage
Name of the project: The third train
Project category: Public Project
Role of the entrant in the project: landscape architect and artist
Other designers involved in the design of landscape (if any): Francesca Liggieri + Marc blume
Project location: Clairière de l’armistice, Compiègne, France
Design year: 2018
Year Built: 2019
