Dry river’s garden - Asnières-sur-seine

At the heart of a new district in Asnières, the courtyards of the Sky and Garden project are conceived as a large inner-block garden, structured by a sunken topography. The entire landscape system is designed as a dry river, capable of collecting and organising all rainwater from the surrounding buildings.

The garden stages the arrival of water along a large retaining wall, which simultaneously marks the boundary of the underground car parks and the transition to planted, open-ground areas. This built threshold becomes a structuring element of the project, both technical and spatial, revealing the hydraulic functioning of the site. The dry river acts as a stormwater basin, allowing temporary storage during heavy rainfall events, regulating excess water and creating a cool island within a dense urban fabric. During storm episodes, water is first retained within the rain garden at the centre of the block, then slowly released into the large swales of the surrounding public spaces, ensuring a gradual and visible management of the water cycle.

The plant palette is carefully designed to create a sense of luxuriance and immersion, in contrast with the highly mineral character of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Accessible rooftops extend this landscape system. Integrated into the project’s ecosystem, they host vegetable gardens for the new secondary school, linking water management, production and educational uses within a coherent and sustainable landscape.

Sky and Garden is a project by Maison Edouard François.

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