JARDIN OUVERT
Antoine Chevalier (SciencesPo), Kelly Luo (Harvard), Daniel Sherman (Harvard), Nina Varchavsky (CRI)
Central to the Parisian experience, the Seine is a winding environ of bridges, stone embankments, and towering walls. Green spaces, however, are conspicuously lacking. Paris’ recent pedestrianization efforts, and hosting of projects such as Paris Plage and Parc Rives de Seine, demonstrate the city’s interest in reimagining the Seine as a dynamic hub. Jardin Ouvert takes these initiatives one step further.
A model of public and environmental health, Jardin Ouvert is a network of green walls and open horizontal planter beds that will line key locations along the Seine. These gardening structures will mitigate air pollution and urban heat, filter pollutants in the Seine, and provide public green space where people can learn about plants and actively experience a connection with nature that immutable public parks cannot cultivate.
From offering an environmentally healthy alternative to Love Locks to fostering a novel form of civic engagement, Jardin Ouvert reconnects the river to the city and the people to nature.
