Contest Submission

One Tree, One Family

Total Votes: 177

Type of Work: Event + Vegetalization

We are in Place des Alliés…

Imagine dividing all this concrete space into a square grid of three meters fifty by three meters fifty, as if we had just squared it with a giant virtual grid.

Now we’re going to buy several young trees at the nursery, choose the species of Cotinus coggygria (Wig tree), Quercus ilex (Holm oak) and fruit trees (apple trees, pear trees, etc. ….). Let’s ask the seller to make the pots biodegradable and of a geotextile material (they will be left in the ground in the continuation of the project).

Let’s transport these potted saplings and place them at each intersection of our grid in the Square. We get 238 trees on the entire surface of the Place des Alliés.

The square is now covered with nice potted trees, let’s select 214 of them and leave the remaining 24 aside, we’ll come back to this later…

Now we will invite 214 households from Differdange to come to Place des Alliés (preferably on a Saturday with good weather) and give a tree to each of these families. We will label each tree with the name of its new host family.

Now, let’s ask each household to plant this tree in their garden or a private area of their choice. For citizens in apartments or without green space, several areas in dire need of greening have been selected throughout the city and will be made available for planting during a “planting morning”.

Everyone is welcome, families with or without children, singles, seniors etc… Each adopting household will be registered during this sunny Saturday, a personal email will be requested and in return, the email of the organization will be given to them.

Finally, after each of the 214 trees has been planted, let’s ask each family to take a picture of their tree (with or without staging, everyone’s creativity will do the rest…) and to send this picture to the organization’s email address.

In a sustainable development approach and in order to promote the vegetation of urban spaces, the photos will be collected and displayed “in patchwork” in the hall of the town hall of Differdange or a space chosen by the municipality and the organization of ESCH22 elsewhere in the city.

A page on social networks will also be created so that everyone can interact on the project. Also allowing to see the trees that have grown over the months and years…

To finish, let’s go back to our 24 trees left on the “grid” Place des Alliés, now let’s plant them in beautiful planters bought in the shops and let’s organize a painting workshop with the citizens of Differdange on another Saturday if possible sunny… And here we are, the

Place des Alliés is now brightened up and 214 families of the city are watching their tree grow…

Estimated time: Permanent
Estimated cost: 15000

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Related Contest Briefing
Place des Alliés is a main square located in the Fousbann area of the City of Differdange. This area is marked by the big industrial site of the AlcelorMittal (former ARBED / HADIR) – a historically important center of steel production that is less than 300m away from Place des Alliés. A part of the industrial site had been recently reconverted to the 1535 Creative Hub (200m direct walking way from the square), hosting around 300 creatives. Although the hub is significant for the changing city identity, it is seen by residents as quite isolated and closed to the public....
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