Parc de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi

Project: Parc De la Villette

Architect: Bernard Tschumi

Year: 1982-1998

Location: Paris

The design principle for the park was to mark the vision of an era and to embody the future economic and cultural development of Paris. It is the third largest park in the world and includes many cultural venues such as three major concert halls, the Conservatoire de Paris, and the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie.

Designed by Bernard Tschumi, the park is  inspired by the post-modernist architectural ideas of deconstructionism. The park was intended to create space for activity and interaction, rather than be the place for the conventional relaxation and self-indulgence. The vast expanse of the park encourages freedom, exploration, and discovery.

The Parc de la Villette has a collection of ten themed gardens. Each garden is created with a different representation of architectural deconstructionism. They vary, for example while some of the gardens are minimalist in design, others are constructed for children.

There are thirty five large red follies in the park that are architectural representations of deconstruction. They are distinctly organized on a grid creating a regularity to the park. These follies are meant to act as points of reference that help visitors gain a sense of direction and navigate throughout the space. 

The follies create one grid of rationality. This grid is laid on top of a second grid made of lines and surfaces. On its own these two grids are regulated and rational however, when you layer the two, as Tschumi had, the plan becomes irrational and sporadic. It is where these two grids intersect that architecture happens, according to Tschumi. The intersection of the grids throws the parks visitors into a world not defined by conventional architecture.

The two overlapping grids relates to my own project. In my indexical sequence I also have one grid that is highly organized (the horizontal lines) and one that is not confined by strict rules (the curvilinear vertical lines). When separated these grids are rational however, when placed on top of one another they intersect a multitude of times creating pockets of densities destroying the regularity of the grids.