Aéroport - Calonne ricouart

photos : Yann Monel

Located alongside an asphalt road, at the foot of a sloping meadow with a spoil heap on the horizon, The Airport is a garden that reveals the everyday ecological richness of the former mining basin landscapes. The site follows the alignment of an old access road that once served a mining settlement now disappeared. This fragment of infrastructure becomes the foundation for a landscape project attentive to the memory of the place and to living dynamics.

The existing asphalt surface, interpreted as a runway, is cut by a long central incision. This linear cut forms planting trenches sown with umbellifers, plants characterised by flat, open inflorescences that are particularly attractive to pollinating insects. Ranging in height from 50 centimetres to 2.5 metres, these plants create a sequence of vegetative layers offering multiple landing points, feeding grounds and observation opportunities.

Overlooking the site, large wooden terraces are anchored into the embankment. They integrate deck chairs and form gathering spaces open to a variety of uses, including picnics, workshops, educational activities and occasional events. Their position allows visitors to sit close to the plantings and to observe the unfolding spectacle of insect activity.

Designed and built in one week by the Wagon team, the project relies on a rapid and lightweight implementation. Local schools were involved through presentations of the project and participation in the planting, embedding the garden within a collective and educational appropriation of the site.

Client: Art and Gardens Hauts-de-France