Cristallina marble ribbon connects the square in Geneva

With the extension of the suburban rail line (S-Bahn) around Geneva, five new train stations were built, which lead to five new areas of development.

One is located in La Praille and was designed by the architects Raderschallpartner Landschaftsarchitekten.

As reported in the article published in Hochparterre, the design of the new area is based on a simple idea: the high-quality Maggia Wild® granite pavement is crossed by a ribbon of corrugated Cristallina® Green marble that forms three rings within which are trees.

This ribbon of marble, the Ruban, also ensures that the drainage system of the large, mostly underground area works. The first constructed section repeatedly oscillates from the surface to the third dimension and becomes a multifaceted bench.

The rings contain three very different groves of trees: the station square is adorned with airy, summer-flowering trees, the first ring includes primal and coastal redwoods, the largest ring in the center is dominated by cherry trees, and the third ring is filled with quaking aspens. While the first trees spread a carpet of flowers over the station square, the other tree species will grow into powerful examples that will stand out in the urban setting because of their size.