Le Jardin du troisième train > French-German Garden of Peace, 2018

Le Jardin du troisième train > French-German Garden of Peace, 2018

In the Compiègne forest, the Armistice Glade is an important site of the First World War. On the 11^th November 1918 the armistice was signed in a railway carriage, which has since become world famous. Le Jardin du troisième train was designed by landscape gardener Marc Blume, artist Gilles Brusset and architect Francesca Liggieri. This Franco-German team has landscaped the pathway that leads from the car park to the clearing, making it a memorable access to the site. Beneath the undergrowth, the three designers have made a symbolic  representation of the trench layout of the Great War like the filaments of the mycelian network which can be found on the forest floor. In a similar way the paths of the garden progress in a sinuous form under the foliage, separating the cultivated areas in which the wooded parts are highlighted. This network of paths is an invitation to discover the undergrowth. There is also a long low bench, which encourages contemplation; it has dozens of mirrors attached to it and its horizontal crosses the shaded place,  this reflects the sky and the foliage in the image of a third train, the train of peace.