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Parisian Geography of Art Deco Gardens


Paris isn’t all grey, since our cherished city is considered one of the greenest capitals in Europe and perhaps even the world (which does wonders for our ego). A “vertdigris” Paris, with added soul, our parks and gardens savour visible traces of buildings and sculptures in the purest Art Deco style. So we propose you take a brisk stroll, a jaunt off to the in-town countryside.

1930s gardens, Art Deco gardens, cubist gardens, etc. So many different evocations which remain somewhat indistinct in the minds of many of us. And yet this 400-garden capital harbours some little jewels of horticultural and landscaped compositions, contemporary to the main architectural and pictorial currents of the early 20th century. Let’s flick back in time to see how Paris acquired these new gardens between the two World Wars, after the grandiose Haussmann operations of the late 19th century (the Buttes-Chaumont, the Parc Montsouris, the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes, etc.). No less than 30 hectares (74 acres) of new gardens and squares were created within the city of Paris itself between 1918 and 1939.
 

Since 1845, Paris had been surrounded by fortifications which were destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century, opening up vast spaces as of 1919 where “cheap housing” properties, buildings in brick and concrete, were soon lining the outer boulevards.


It was at the foot of these new residences equipped with modern comforts (bathroom facilities, running water, district heating, etc.) that a rich green belt was scheduled to be laid out, an extension of this movement towards hygiene and health, a sort of natural frontier between Paris and the suburbs (today, only the gardens of the Cité universitaire [1922], on Boulevard Jourdan in the 14th district, bear witness to what this “green lung” might have potentially become). However, with property development on the increase, the vast parks originally planned ended up in fact as squares and gardens of lesser proportions. But even so, often designed by architects, they retained undeniable formal qualities. The greatest particularity of these greens spaces created in the 1920s and 30s was to give precedence to mineral life over plant life. So they were spoken of as architectural gardens, an inheritance from the formal influence of the World Fairs of 1925, 1931 and 1937. The Parc de la Butte du Chapeau rouge Park (19th district), for example, is the oeuvre of one of the architects of the Palais de Chaillot, Louis Azéma. Designed to enhance the new residential districts, these green spaces were thought out with relaxing atmospheres in mind. Even when the ring road is barely a few meters away, as is the case with the Parc Kellermann, the pastoral impression is entire, the feeling of perfect calm. Newspaper kiosks, public conveniences, porticoes and sweeping staircases have turned these gardens into miniature museims of 1930s architecture. Here are four, just waiting to be discovered.
 

Le Square Saint-Lambert (15th)

As you can see, these Art Deco or cubist gardens, oeuvres of architects, all have in common a precise design and smooth lines, broken up only by the sumptuousness of their trees and flowers.

The Saint-Lambert Square was laid out on the site of the former Vaugirard gas factory between 1930 and 1933. This circular garden, an island of green, is surrounded by buildings constructed during that period and by the imposing Lycée Camille Sée, realised by François Le Cœur in the same era. Hence this impression of the perfect integration of a highly architecture-styled garden – with its large pond, smart public conveniences and savvy play of different levels which are much of a rarity in Parisian gardens – with the rigorous style in urban development at the end of the Roaring Twenties.

The theatre at the entrance to the Square Saint-Lambert is a savvy mix of classicism and modernism.


Le Square de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge (19th)

The architect who designed the Trocadéro realised this hidden treasure. Overlooking the Plaine du Pré Saint-Gervais, this grand square is situated on one of the hills making up the vast chain of gypsum quarries, called American quarries (because the plasterstone was exported to the United States) stretching as far as the Buttes-Chaumont.

This 5 hectare (12 acre) garden is doubtless one of the capital’s least known. Admittedly located away from the centre, not easy to access, on the edge of the outer boulevards, it is a source of delight for local residents who find this steep park to be an indispensable oxygen chest. As in the other gardens of this era, Louis Azéma (architect of the Palais du Trocadéro) gave priority to its decor: the fountains, sculptures, charming shelters and handsome little monuments dotted around this garden whose acreage seems even greater due to its many slopes and multitude of surprises: gazebos, hidden paths, solariums, etc.


Le Jardin des Gobelins (13th)

A shining example signed Jean-Charles Moreux, whose furniture is much sought after by avid collectors. If one had to make a choice of just one 1930s garden in Paris, it would unquestionably be that of Les Gobelins. The architect Jean-Charles Moreux (1889-1956), champion of moderate modernism, whose furniture is as appreciated as that of Arbus, Emilio Terry or Ruhlmann, signs here his green chef-d’oeuvre. It is a secret space, located on a lower level than the neighbouring streets, the only building-free area remaining from the former Gobelins tapestry factory located just around the corner. As with the Parc Kellermann, the Bièvre River runs underground and constitutes a source of humidity extremely favourable to plant growth.

 

Several sweeping staircases lead to a first garden in the Renaissance style, inspired by those at the Château de Villandry, with four latticed gazebos. In the centre, an obelisk is a reminder of the humanism and love of mathematics so dear to the Italian Renaissance. This same period is the inspiration for the masks made of pebbles and shells affixed to the buttresses of the staircases. Oeuvres of the sculptor Maurice Garnier, they bring to mind the decors of the magnificent Tivoli gardens. Sumptuous trees are dotted around the second, wilder garden leading to play areas lined with classical porticoes inspired by Palladio.


Le Parc Kellerman
A French garden considered exotic by English and Japanese garden designers.
 

These vast grounds of over 5 hectares are bordered on one side by the outer boulevards, and on the other by the ring road. Despite these drawbacks, it is real haven of peace. Created in 1937 by the architect Jacques Gréber on the site of the ancient fortifications which used to protect Paris, it partially covers the bed of the Bièvre River, hence the luxuary of the vegetation. It is a model of 1930s gardens, combining typical French rigour (see the geometric garden at the entrance, surrounded by lime trees) with wilder spaces which nonetheless retain a certain formal layout.

A harmonious blend of plant and mineral life, the Parc Kellermann is an enclave of greenery on the edge of the ring road, at the foot of the 13th district tower blocks.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Le Square Saint-Lambert (15th arrondissement)

 Le Square de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge (19th arrondissement)

 Le Jardin des Gobelins (13th arrondissement)

 Le Parc Kellerman (13th arrondissement)

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