To Articulate the Imaginary 

In contrast to architects or photographers, the elements of our repertoire are continuously transformed in substance, by their growth, colors, density etc., to create spaces and places, appearance, the four seasons – all these provide us with the opportunity, even in a minimalist design, to be manifold. The undefined border (l’ indécision de frontière), the shadow, the stringency of geometry, the ”staging” of the void, the contrast of artificial and natural, provides us with the opportunity to articulate the longing, the imaginary. The design is created like the canvas of an artist, in several steps, in several layers. The first layer consists of context, geometry, and requirements. They are assessed, instrumentalised, expanded and dispersed to create the first contours. The first layer is superimposed with another and merges with the second: the terrain, the topography, the invisible and visible history, the relief. In the design process silhouettes become visible. The image is occupied, the interpretation more defined, intentions occupy the terrain. Finally, a new image derives from different layers that will be imprinted into the memory. The intentions become visible, the imaginary is articulated. 

The implementation is more than an image. The composition is like the processes in a garden: tomorrow it is different from today and the day after tomorrow it will be different from tomorrow. In winter it is different from spring, yet different from this autumn or the autumn to come. This is our chance. 

Kamel Louafi, born in Algeria, studied topography in Algeria and France, and was employed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Forest Inventory in Algeria until 1979. He worked as a draughtsman in the architectural office of his elder brother M. S. Louafi in 1979. He studied landscape planning at the Technical University of West Berlin between 1980 and 1986, then worked on projects in Luxembourg (1986 – 1989) for the landscaping plan for the town of Esch-sur-Alzette / Rosarium in Belval park – Kamel Louafi lived with his parents until 1959 in Nilvange, 30 km south of Esch-sur-Alzette – He was project manager for the design of the gardens of the Jewish Museum in Berlin / Architect Daniel Libeskind and the green spaces of the Jewish school in Berlin / Architect Zvi Hecker. He set up his own landscape architecture practice in Berlin in 1996.  He has been a curator since 2000 and a member of the Aedes Architecture Gallery in Berlin.

Kamel Louafi designed and created, among other things, the Gardens for the World Expo 2000, Gardens in Motion, Expo Park South, the Agricultural Park in Hanover from 1996 to 2000, the Hermes Square area and the Park South within the Hanover exhibition site (2003), the Place of the Kings in Kassel (2003), the Islamic-Oriental Garden (2005), and the Reception Hall (2009) in the Gardens of the World in Berlin, the Airbus Square in Bremen (2006) and the ‘Bocage’ Park at Bremen Airport (2007), the Opera Square in Hanover (2009), the Brill Square/Place de la Résistance – Place of the 5 Continents in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, the Suez Garden at the IGA 2013 in Hamburg and the Town Hall Square in Hanover / Trammplatz (2015). Welfengarten / Herrenhäuser Gardens, Hanover 2018. Abroad, he has also designed the Gardens of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s- Mosque in Abu Dhabi (2003), the landscaping of Doha Bay in Qatar (2003), and a garden for the Islamic world in Mecca (2005).

He worked on numerous studies in the Eastern region, including the development of the Bay of Algiers in relation to Le Corbusier’s Obus project – currently a leisure park of around 50 hectares, the Ziban Palmeraie, with the development of Saharan Architecture in Biskra, Algeria.  Kamel Louafi’s Gardens often include bronze sculptures according to the topic of his design. From the outset of the creation of his parks, gardens, and squares, Kamel Louafi has devoted himself to designing regular exhibitions of his work. He recently designed an exhibition expressing the articulation of his arabesques landscape design as part of the touring exhibition “Orient meets Occident”, which has already been staged in 2021 in Stuttgart, in feldfünf Berlin 2022_08 / in Batna 2022_09 / Alger Dar Abdellatif 2022_09 / Sacré Coeur ex-Cathedral Oran 2023_05 and Tunis Palast Ezzahra 2023_03. Then in Hannover + Paris + Granada 2025 – 2026.

Kamel Louafi is the author of several books (in German, English, French and Arabic) on his landscape projects and has co-written several films about his landscape designs. 

Kamel Louafi received several honours:

Geste d’Or: Grand Prix – Geste d’Argent – for lifetime achievement – Paris (2023) 

Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal President W. Steinmeier of the German Republic (2023) 

Carsten Niebuhr Prize of the DAG German-Arab Society, Berlin (2023) 

Prize of the Algerian President for the Oriental-Islamic Garden, Berlin (2021) 

Aurasis Prize of the AURAS FORUM Foundation, Batna, Algeria for all works (2021) 

Garden Oscar: DGGL – Prize for Contemporary Garden Art – EXPO 2000, Hanover (2002) 

ELCA EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE: INTERNATIONAL TREND PRIZE for the gardens of the World Exhibition ‘Gardens in Transition’, Hanover (2000)

Published on January 23, 2024