Respiration

In December 2024, atelier le balto began transforming the outer courtyard of the Kunstgewerbemuseum. Visitors are invited to observe this change over twelve months: from the stairs to the museum entrance, inside the museum or later directly in the garden.

The focus of the exhibition, which opens in February in the rooms adjacent to the courtyard, is the process.



"RESPIRATION" could be the title of a choreography. In fact, garden art is closely linked to movement, but here the plants are the main actors. A garden is never a static work, it grows, changes and interacts with its surroundings.

This is not only visible in the photographs, sketches and plans shown, but also in the direct redesign of the museum courtyard at the Kulturforum. This is a living example of the work of atelier le balto: trees, earth, light and shadow form a new composition that begins to breathe over time. The plants grow, people move through the space - the garden comes to life and connects with the museum landscape.

A garden awakens from a deep sleep

The outer courtyard of the Kunstgewerbemuseum was inaccessible for a long time and has become overgrown over the years. Now this forgotten place is being revived. The transformation by atelier le balto brings new life, new structures and new opportunities for interaction.

In the course of the project, the garden will not only become a visible but also an experienceable element of the museum. From summer 2025 it will be accessible - at least at certain points - and will be available as a place of rest and reflection.

Gardens as snapshots vs. constant change

A garden is subject to constant change. Photographs and sketches capture fleeting moments - images of a state that will never return. The exhibition reflects this aspect by showing memories of gardens that atelier le balto has designed, built and maintained over decades. The focus is not on individual projects, but on the central elements of the gardens: trees, shade, soil, material and construction. Individual places merge into a large work, a coherent landscape.

At the same time, the exhibition makes the manual process of gardening visible: from planning to planting to maintenance. In addition to sketches and photographs, the exhibition shows tools, materials and techniques to make gardening an artistic and creative act.

atelier le balto - landscape architecture as an art form

The atelier le balto office has been working in Berlin since 2001 and creates gardens in collaboration with its partner Marc Vatinel (Le Havre, France). Her projects include garden concepts for renowned art institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, the Brücke Museum, the Berlinische Galerie or the Hamburger Bahnhof - National Gallery of the Present.

Public parks, such as the neighborhood park at the BOB campus in Wuppertal or the Jubileumsparken in Gothenburg, are also part of her repertoire - and not least the tree nursery at the Kulturforum.

Her work is characterized by the close relationship between plant growth, human movement and the urban environment. atelier le balto creates places of encounter and exchange that continue to develop over time.



A special exhibition by the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin