Bureau Bas Smets designed Luma Arles, Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France.

This project transforms the harsh semi-desert climate of an industrial wasteland into an enjoyable Mediterranean climate.

Bureau Bas Smets modelled how nature would have appropriated the large concrete platform of this former railyard – where it's likely sediments would have come with the wind, allowing an ecological succession over time.

The project accelerated these natural processes through the introduction of 80,000 plants from over 140 species around a central pond. This new microclimate is scientifically monitored for its root growth and water needs, to become a case study for other transformations.

Luma Arles, Parc des Ateliers does not focus on reestablishing a lost past. Instead, it proposes expediting a transformational future.

This project has been longlisted in the landscape project category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: Bureau Bas Smets

Project: Luma Arles, Parc des Ateliers