Like a peninsula between an old arm of the Scheldt and the straightened Scheldt, just outside the centre of Ghent, this park is located on the edge of the Keizerpoort, the Franse Vaart and the Scheldt riverbank. Important is the function of the park, as a green ‘island’ in an urban context, which has been preserved and strengthened. The existing rows of trees and planes, with their play of light and shade, form the main structure of the park. The rows of trees provide a transverse spatial connection between the old and the new Scheldt. With the help of light lines on the also transversely planted grassy verges, this line formation is reinforced and these transverse lines can be seen in the dark.
The grass cushions have been planted as verges or ‘breakwaters’. They start partly from the water and not only bring perspective and rhythm, but are mainly gently sloping grass surfaces to sit or lie down on that divide the park. Such terraced embankments have also been extended towards the water in two places in the park as sunbathing and playing meadows. The spatial image of grass and water surfaces that can be felt in the lower terrain is delineated by the footbridge for fishermen and boats.
Due to the various interventions such as the ground sculptures, the wooden scaffolding, the sunken square with stairs at the water’s edge and the podium/pontoon along the water’s edge, the park, as a green ‘island’, will have a wider range of uses. The surrounding water is even more palpable because the south-east bank along the Franse Vaart has been worked out as a flower meadow where only the park trees such as horse chestnut, lime and oak trees are preserved.
