The largest garden is a roof garden above the underground museum hall. In the absence of historical data on the original layout of the garden, we were inspired by the stylistic features of the period in which this city palace was built, namely the Renaissance. The formal layout and plant structures are based on the style books and paintings of Hans Vredeman de Vries. There are some perspective follies, because the Renaissance was the period of learning to understand perspective. The choice of plants was inspired by the botanical works of Mechelaar and the world-famous botanist Rembert Dodoens. His bust has watched over the garden since its redesign. A great help in designing the garden was the museum's leading collection of 'enclosed gardens'. (Closed garden = hortus conclusus). Wherever possible, we have used the plant species found in these altarpieces by the nuns of Mechelen in the new gardens. We have translated the typical diamond-shaped backgrounds of the 'Besloten Hofjes' into the diamond-shaped path structure within which the beds provide a year-round garden experience.

PROJECT DATA

Location: Mechelen, Belgium

Task Design museum gardens,

Concerns Three walled gardens. One roofgarden. 5700m²

Ontwerp​ 2023 - 2024

Commission​ City of Mechelen

Team design and build team, together with Hertsens Infra & Faktor Dertig Architects

Copyright ​ Ronald van der Hilst