Numerous parks ,waterside promenades and small green spaces determine the townscape in Le Mans, all stemming  from  a certain era and all displaying a certain flair according to the various uses and vegetation involved. However, the districts on the right bank of the river used to have a dearth of green spaces ,and accordingly have now been provided a park at a former milirary site. The result -Park Theodore Monod- is a new environment in place of an army barracks built in severe block style. In a concept expressed on various levels, the design involves the free play of elements that are typical for inner-city areas on the one hand,  and rural outskirts on the other. Numerous elements thus recall the usual repertoty of a city. This begins with the walls, left over from the barracks at the former military site. Since walls also stand for gardens, some of the army ones have been preserved wherever this was possible. Quarry-stone walls with the gold shimmer of gneiss also enclose the park, increasing the feeling of being in an area aside from the city and its noise. The park has two rectilinear axes. One runs along a series of water features in an east-west direction, quoting the classical urban design of the star-shaped intersection leading up to it outside the park. The other, north-south, axis runs through lively topography, and ends at the only building Still standing from the days of the barracks and now in use for publicly assisted housing. Two pavilions at the entrance to the park, and the wrought-iron gates recall the past of this former military site.

With Atelier Jacqueline Osty & Ass. Lanscape architects, Client : Ville du Mans