Rendez-vous aux jardins 2025
Landscaped park
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As part of the national event "Rendez-vous aux jardins", LUMA Arles is offering two activities to explore the landscaped park from a new perspective:
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a guided tour focusing on the history and transformation of the Parc des Ateliers,
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a plant-based dyeing workshop on merino wool using the traditional Japanese technique of tataki-zome.
Guided tour: Les paysages du Parc des Ateliers (in French only)
In the 19th century, the Parc des Ateliers was built on the site of the former Roman necropolis known as the Alyscamps. The area was then covered in concrete.
In the 21st century, LUMA Arles invited landscape architect Bas Smets to reimagine and transform this paved expanse into a vibrant public park.
This guided tour tells the story of the site and concludes with a visit to Atelier LUMA’s garden, led by a project manager from the team.
This experimental garden focuses on exploring local plant species, especially those used for natural dyes.
Dates: Saturday, June 7 / Sunday, June 8
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Duration: 1h30
Rate: €5
Meeting point: The Tower, Level 0
Atelier Tataki-zome (in French only)
Tataki-zome is a traditional Japanese technique that combines “tataki” (to hammer) and “zome” (to dye). It involves transferring the natural pigments of plants onto fabric by gently pounding them, creating delicate botanical prints.
In this workshop, participants will be guided by Axelle Gisserot, a textile designer at Atelier LUMA—a design research laboratory—alongside a cultural mediator from LUMA Arles.
The session begins with an introduction to the plants grown in Atelier LUMA’s experimental garden. Then, each participant will have the opportunity to create their own piece—a scarf, table runner, or cushion cover—using soft merino wool sourced from Arles.
Ages 8 and up.
Dates*: Saturday, June 7 / Sunday, June 8
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Duration: 2h00
Rate: €6 per participant
Meeting point: Le Magasin Électrique
*The Saturday workshop is open to all audiences. The Sunday session is reserved for adults.
The landscaped park designed by landscape architect Bas Smets
The gardens and pond at LUMA Arles were designed by landscape architect Bas Smets. This public park, which spans 4 hectares, is the largest in the city of Arles. It was conceived by integrating more than 80,000 trees, shrubs, and plantssourced from the three surrounding biotopes: the Camargue, the Crau, and the Alpilles.
The landscaped park also features artworks and sculptures created by various artists.
Learn more about the landscaped park
Atelier LUMA’s Garden
Founded in 2016, Atelier LUMA is the design research program of LUMA Arles. It brings together a team of designers, engineers, scientists, and experts from the fields of culture, craftsmanship, humanities, and social sciences and innovation,
Atelier LUMA’s garden, covering 200 square meters, is designed for studying and producing plant-based raw materials for Atelier LUMA’s labs and research workshops.
The garden plays an important role in research into textile dyes, inks, pigments, mordants, leather tanning, textile fibers, basketry, rope-making, paper, natural gum, resins, latex, and soap.