Expo 2000 and Fair Grounds, Hanover

The Alien and the Familiar

Details
Clients
Expo 2000 Hannover Deutsche Messe AG, Messe GmbH Hannover
Type
Promenade
Collaboration
T. Herzog München, Prof. Ackermann, Prof. A. Speer Frankfurt, Arnaboldi Cavaldini, Lugano
Period
1995 - 2000
Status
Realised
Area
450 000 m²
Country
Germany
The “Alley of United Trees”provides the spine of the entire site. As a promenade, it simultaneously provides a central access and is suitable for strolling and lingering a while. It links the various parts of the park spread out like so many fingers: the wave-type park grounds with their strongly shaped surface and dense tree plantings, the Earth Garden with its hedged spaces and soil cones and the Expo Lake with the tent-like wooden construction of the Expo roof. The model of this four-row ensemble of trees was Herrenhäuser Allee in Hanover. With its 460 alley trees composed of 273 species it continues to develop this Baroque type of alley and, at the same time, meets the genuine criteria of a landscaped park: variety, contrast, and surprise. Gaps among the copses create varied sequences of open and covered spaces. Light and shadow evoke the changing moods prevalent in the course of the seasons, while the juxtaposition of foreign and domestic tree species serves as a metaphor of the alien and the familiar.
- Project by Kienast Vogt Partner