Bas Smets studio wins the competition to reform the surroundings of Notre-Dame
04/07/2022.
[PAR] France
metalocus, JAVIER ARIAS
metalocus, JAVIER ARIAS
Parallel to the restoration works of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, the City has carried out a reflection to reimagine the surroundings of the cathedral. The challenge was twofold: to connect the monument to the city and the Seine, in order to be able to decently welcome the 12 million visitors who come there every year and to provide the monument with a framework in keeping with the interest it generates.
To obtain the best solution, after the fire and the subsequent popular response, an international contest was launched. Out of four finalists, for the reorganization of the surroundings of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the winner was announced last week, which turned out to be the team led by the Belgian architect and landscaper Bas Smets.
The team is led by the architect and landscape architect Bas Smets, with the GRAU architects and urban planners studio and with advice on heritage issues from the Neufville-Gayet architecture studio.
To obtain the best solution, after the fire and the subsequent popular response, an international contest was launched. Out of four finalists, for the reorganization of the surroundings of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the winner was announced last week, which turned out to be the team led by the Belgian architect and landscaper Bas Smets.
The team is led by the architect and landscape architect Bas Smets, with the GRAU architects and urban planners studio and with advice on heritage issues from the Neufville-Gayet architecture studio.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Jeudi Wang
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Jeudi Wang
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Jeudi Wang
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Jeudi Wang
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden was designed by Bas Smets and will be finished in 2027. The back of the church will feature a larger grass area with trees along the edge of the Seine river. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Site plan. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Axonometric. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Floor plan. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Plaza Floor plan. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Section. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Section. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Section. The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
Site plan. Ville de Paris
The project proposed by the team led by Bas Smets, which plans to start work in the second half of 2024 and will be completed in 2027, has been submitted at a cost of €50 million.
Among the planned changes is an increase in vegetation by more than 30 per cent and the rehabilitation of the old car park with the creation of a new promenade area and underground reception area that opens onto the Seine River.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who has put an emphasis on increasing green spaces in the city centre, explained that more than 100 new trees will be planted around the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral, giving tourists a small oasis. during the summer.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
There will also be a 5m horizontal fountain running down the esplanade on hot days, which Smets says will reduce surface temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
Rainwater, captured and stored underground, will be used.
The space behind the cathedral will also be intervened, which is currently divided by hedges and gates, becoming a large open garden, which will improve the view of the building's stained glass windows and buttresses.
The back of the church will feature a larger grass area with trees along the edge of the Seine river. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The Bas Smets team was also behind the Parc des Ateliers autour de la tour Luma in Arles, in the south of France, and has been chosen to redesign the city centre of Brussels.
The remodelling is a complementary project to the one being carried out for the reconstruction of the cathedral. This vast project aims to bring Parisians to the cradle of Paris and welcome many visitors (12 million each year!)) in better conditions. It had been the subject of a deliberation voted on April 15, 2021, in the Paris Council, two years after the terrible fire devastated the building.
Among the planned changes is an increase in vegetation by more than 30 per cent and the rehabilitation of the old car park with the creation of a new promenade area and underground reception area that opens onto the Seine River.
"The project rethinks the emblematic public spaces around Notre Dame as a sequence of climatic atmospheres. The parvis becomes a clearing surrounded by trees, the square behind the Catedral is enlarged towards the tip of the island, and a large new park is created along the Seine. Compressed and imbricated around the Cathedral, these spaces frame new views of Notre Dame, establish a new relationship with the Seine and offer new activities. The lle de la Cité becomes the epicentre of Paris once again."
Bas Smets
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who has put an emphasis on increasing green spaces in the city centre, explained that more than 100 new trees will be planted around the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral, giving tourists a small oasis. during the summer.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
There will also be a 5m horizontal fountain running down the esplanade on hot days, which Smets says will reduce surface temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
Rainwater, captured and stored underground, will be used.
The space behind the cathedral will also be intervened, which is currently divided by hedges and gates, becoming a large open garden, which will improve the view of the building's stained glass windows and buttresses.
The back of the church will feature a larger grass area with trees along the edge of the Seine river. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS.
Partial reopening in 2024
Beneath the esplanade, the parking lot will be transformed into a large reception area with a walkway that will allow visitors to access the archaeological crypt and the Seine River.
The other side of the cathedral will be flanked by a pedestrian street, with benches and trees.
The first part of the exterior works is expected to be completed in time for the cathedral's reopening in 2024, while the rest of the modifications will be completed in 2027.
Paris is in the race to meet the Olympics deadline three years after the Notre-Dame fire.
Beneath the esplanade, the parking lot will be transformed into a large reception area with a walkway that will allow visitors to access the archaeological crypt and the Seine River.
The other side of the cathedral will be flanked by a pedestrian street, with benches and trees.
The first part of the exterior works is expected to be completed in time for the cathedral's reopening in 2024, while the rest of the modifications will be completed in 2027.
Paris is in the race to meet the Olympics deadline three years after the Notre-Dame fire.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The Bas Smets team was also behind the Parc des Ateliers autour de la tour Luma in Arles, in the south of France, and has been chosen to redesign the city centre of Brussels.
The remodelling is a complementary project to the one being carried out for the reconstruction of the cathedral. This vast project aims to bring Parisians to the cradle of Paris and welcome many visitors (12 million each year!)) in better conditions. It had been the subject of a deliberation voted on April 15, 2021, in the Paris Council, two years after the terrible fire devastated the building.
More information
Architects
Design team
BUREAU BAS SMETS (architectes paysagistes / mandataire) - GRAU (architectes et urbanistes) - Neufville-Gayet Architectes (architectes du patrimoine) - INGEROP (ingénierie multidisciplinaire) - Franck Boutté Consultants (ingénierie environnementale) - Les Eclaireurs (concepteur lumière)- BLD Waterdesign (fontainerie) - Cronos Conseil (expert en sûreté).
Client
Ville de Paris.
Dates
Competition.- 2021-2022.
Design and first works.- 2022-2024.
Completed.-2027.
Design and first works.- 2022-2024.
Completed.-2027.
Location
Notre-Dame, Paris, France.
Renderings
Studio Alma, Jeudi Wang.
Bas Smets
Bas Smets has a background in landscape architecture, civil engineering and architecture. He founded his firm in Brussels in 2007 and has since completed more than 50 projects in more than 12 countries with his team of 20 architects and landscape architects. These projects vary in scale from territorial visions to infrastructural landscapes, from large parks to private gardens, and from city centres to film sets.
His realised projects include the park of Thurn & Taxis and the Saint- Gilles Plaza in Brussels; the public space around the Trinity Tower in Paris La Défense, the Sunken Garden and Mandrake Hotel in London, the Himara Waterfront in Albania, and recently the Parc des Ateliers in Arles. France.
Several of his large projects are under construction, such as the urban forest surrounding the Part Dieu station in Lyon, the Nieuw Zuid project in Antwerp and a sculpture park in Amagansett, New York. Each of these projects is part of interrelated research into the possible role and ambition of landscape projects. The aim is to invent 'Augmented Landscapes' by using the logic of nature. These augmented landscapes produce a new microclimate while creating new atmospheres. The collaboration with artists and scientists takes a central role in this research.
Bas Smets received his master's degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the University of Leuven and his master's in Landscape from the University of Geneva. He has taught in various schools such as the Ecole d'Architecture la Cambre in Brussels, the Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris and the Technische Universität in Graz.
In 2008 he was awarded the biennial French prize for young landscape architects 'Les Nouveaux Albums des lunes Architectes et des Paysagistes'. A first monographic exhibition was presented in 2013 by deSingel International Arts Centre and Arc-en-Reve centre for architecture in Bordeaux.
In 2017 he was appointed General Commissioner for the Biennial of Architecture of Bordeaux and in 2018 he received the Award for Urbanism and Public Space from the French Academy of Architecture.
His realised projects include the park of Thurn & Taxis and the Saint- Gilles Plaza in Brussels; the public space around the Trinity Tower in Paris La Défense, the Sunken Garden and Mandrake Hotel in London, the Himara Waterfront in Albania, and recently the Parc des Ateliers in Arles. France.
Several of his large projects are under construction, such as the urban forest surrounding the Part Dieu station in Lyon, the Nieuw Zuid project in Antwerp and a sculpture park in Amagansett, New York. Each of these projects is part of interrelated research into the possible role and ambition of landscape projects. The aim is to invent 'Augmented Landscapes' by using the logic of nature. These augmented landscapes produce a new microclimate while creating new atmospheres. The collaboration with artists and scientists takes a central role in this research.
Bas Smets received his master's degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the University of Leuven and his master's in Landscape from the University of Geneva. He has taught in various schools such as the Ecole d'Architecture la Cambre in Brussels, the Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris and the Technische Universität in Graz.
In 2008 he was awarded the biennial French prize for young landscape architects 'Les Nouveaux Albums des lunes Architectes et des Paysagistes'. A first monographic exhibition was presented in 2013 by deSingel International Arts Centre and Arc-en-Reve centre for architecture in Bordeaux.
In 2017 he was appointed General Commissioner for the Biennial of Architecture of Bordeaux and in 2018 he received the Award for Urbanism and Public Space from the French Academy of Architecture.
