In Paris' re-vamped industrial quarters, Parc de la Villette has wide, angular lawns littered with modern sculptures, fountains, a vast interactive science museum, a 3D Imax cinema and an avant-garde circus. Visitors come in summer for the open-air cinema festival.
Parc de la Villette is unprecedentedly futuristic and hosts an array of cultural activities, fulfilling its aim to become an "urban park of the 21st century". The government employed architect Bernard Tschumi who created one of the most complex and thought-provoking urban parks of the last century.
Distinguishing features include its astounding red follies - decorative architectural structures intended to represent the gloriettes that adorned 18th-century aristocratic gardens.
The gardens themselves are linked together by a winding blue path which symbolises a "celluloid film an enthusiast might have dropped on the floor" and each garden represents a different cinematic sequence. The Jardin des Miroirs is a mirror garden; the Jardin des Broillards is characterised by fountains spraying rainbow-coloured droplets, while the Jardin du Dragon houses a giant 80m-long dragon whose vast tongue is a slide for children.
The park also plays host to open-air theatres, restaurants, galleries, music and workshops and is at its most active in summer.
Related Information
Website: Further Architect's Information on Parc de la Villette