Kamel Louafi Landscape Architecture

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Germany

Kamel Louafi, born in Algeria, studied topography in Algeria and France. He worked at the Ministry of Forest Inventory and Land Development in Algeria, was drawer at the architectural office of his elder brother M.S. Louafi. From 1980 to 1986, he studied Landscape Architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. During those years, he freelanced on several projects in Luxembourg and in Berlin. In 1996, he founded his own office, Kamel Loaufi Landscape Architects in Berlin. Since 2000, he is a curator member at Aedes/Berlin. He composed and published various articles about his expertise of the oriental world and art. 

Kamel Louafi Landscape Architects designed and planed the construction of Gardens of Transition at the EXPO 2000 in Hanover, EXPO-Park South as well as the Parc-Agricole in Hanover, Hermesplatz / Trade Fair Hanover (2003), King’s Square in Kassel (2003), Oriental Garden (2005) and Reception Hall (2009) in the Gardens of the World in Berlin, Airbus Forecourt in Bremen (2006) and “Bocage-Park” at Bremen airport (2007), Opera Square in Hanover (2009), Place de la Résistance in Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxemburg, the Trammplatz in front of the town hall of Hanover and a memorial place for the concentration camp in Oranienburg (both 2015) as well as abroad the Gardens of “Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan”- Mosque in Abu Dhabi (2003), a Garden of the Islamic World in Mekka (2005) and the leisure park “Ziban Palmeraie” with “Architectures Sahariennes” (Pavilion and Residences) in Biskra, Algeria. Last finished was the Welfengarten (2018) as part of the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover.

I was certainly fascinated by Peter Joseph Lenné, especially by his staging of the landscape. I developed a friendship with the unfortunately already deceased Dieter Kienast during the planning of the EXPO 2000 in Hannover. I was fascinated by his pencil guidance, with which he brought the drawing into life.

No special garden has changed my life – but the gardens at the World Expo 2000 in Hannover allowed me to develop my manifesto “Articulating the Imaginary”

SELECTED PROJECTS

Place de la Résistance, Esch-sur-Alzette

Designed as a traditional European plaza, the Place de la Résistance is expressive and green. It also includes a contemporary artistic concept that refers to the diverse demographics of the surrounding ‘Brill’ neighbourhood. Through its spatial concept and function the green plaza is well integrated within the city; it reflects the neighbourhood’s vitality and diversity while at the same time providing valuable open space and garden art. The intention was to use this location to create a meeting place for people of all ages and to design a space that could be used during all four seasons, both day and night.   

The surrounding wave-shaped evergreen hedges give the plaza its unique character. As modern garden art, they are complemented by bronze statues shaped like the hedges. The edge formed by the hedges combined with the hedge sculptures draws one’s attention to ‘garden art’, with its affinity to, and overlap with, other forms of art – as well as within the sense of art in gardens in the tradition of sculptures in gardens and parks. As central elements the statues indicate the intended height of the hedge (in 100 years as well), and the design with living material, which corresponds to the look and feel of the statues, in soft flowing forms. The installation art project Five Continents is also located at the plaza. It consists of five bronze sculptures at the centre of the plaza which represent friendship among the five continents. Relief figures on the surface of the sculptures refer to different regions. Paths extend to the edge of the plaza from its centre. ‘Water windows’ are located at the centre of the installation. Lighting will emphasise the overall image at night.  

Bocage Park, Bremen

The Bocage Park is a representative park facility located at the urban airport hub and serves as both an entrance to the airport and as a leisure area for the adjacent urban area. Avenues, paths and hedge elements (a reinterpretation of the hedgerows found in the Bocage country of Normandy) are used to form clearly defined spaces. View axes, trees, and low plantings are used as structural elements in the park; they emphasise the connection between the northern and southern sections of the park and make it an attractive location year-round. The spatial quality has been improved as a result of the relocation and redesign of the Neuenlander Wasserlöse (a drainage canal), which now has a promenade running alongside it.    

To the northeast, near Airbus-Allee, a belvedere with a grove of trees greets visitors. From here steps lead to a circular basin which serves as a retention basin and is a counterpart to the existing rectangular fountain basin at the southern end of the park. Together with boxwood hedge elements it creates an unusual and interesting space which has a variety of garden art-related elements. The bronze sculpture of an albatross marks the outlet structure of an underground rainwater canal, where water runs into the Neuenlander Wasserlöse drainage canal, thus creating a link to the theme of ‘flight’: the bird is resting and having a drink of water. 

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