In the 18^th century, the gardens of the Château de Bouxwiller were known as “the Little Versailles”. During the French Revolution, both the castle and the gardens were destroyed. All that remains are a few traces of the garden wall encased into the town’s private plots. As part of the Pays du Hanau Museum renewal, the producers proposed to make a virtual reconstitution of the gardens. Basing their work on land registry records, ancient maps, engravings, period testimonials and the few traces remaining on the site, they have reproduced a computerised ground plan which was then used in making a 3D CGI virtual model, to serve in turn as the basis for an animated film showing a virtual walk through the various gardens: the small topiary garden, the classical park and orangery, the vegetable patch and the pheasantry.

“We soon reached Bouxwiller, where Weyland had prepared a fine welcome for us… This town used to be the capital of Hanau-Lichtenberg County, which belonged to the Count of Darmstadt under France’s sovereignty… It was easy for us to forget all about the irregular streets and buildings once we had stepped outside the ramparts and started gazing upon the old castle and the gardens, gracefully set atop a hill. The surrounding groves, the pheasantry and all the other various features showed how pleasant this residence must have once been.”

(Goethe, From My Life – Poetry and Truth – Book 10)

http://www.droledetrame.com/exposition/musee-du-pays-de-hanau

A listed UNESCO “World Heritage” sites, the Chartres Cathedral had been experiencing a gradual decline in the quality of its immediate surroundings and was threatened with being unlisted. The study’s objective was to explore the area’s potential for regeneration, including both the city’s historical centre and the under-exploited potential economic opportunities, especially in terms of tourism. The project concluded on the need to deploy a rediscovery of the city’s history from the Roman era (with a small underground museum), and to put a new spotlight on public spaces to the benefit of pedestrians. The suggested method calls on a contemporary interpretation of medieval illuminated manuscripts, especially regarding the choice of plants: creepers and symbolic plants, and colours like vines, roses, lilies, apple blossoms, blue, red and more.

The landscaping project for the Vallée Guyot neighbourhood involved farmland that is fairly divided up.
The project proposed to boost the possibilities of creating some local farming activity inside the neighbourhood by taking advantage of the best panoramas overlooking the landscape.
The existence of old low dry stone walls, which host a specific fauna and flora, offered an opportunity to give a powerful environmental aspect to the future urban project.
Lastly, a polluted former industrial facility was included in the project with the idea of turning it into an urban park.

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The operation was abandoned following the municipal elections in 2014.