Botanical Beauty
The new premium development at Ludwigkirchplatz near the Kurfürstendamm offers its residents a unique refuge. The lush courtyard garden of the ALEXANDER brings nature to an urban setting.
Deep, elaborately landscaped front gardens discretely shield the ALEXANDER from Emser Strasse and are simultaneously an introduction for the singular highlight that awaits within: a marvelous botanical refuge in the ALEXANDER’s large courtyard for the building’s residents. The world-renowned Königliche Gartenakademie (Royal Garden Academy) in Dahlem was commissioned to design this exclusive retreat.
Drawing of the courtyard garden with water feature
In this vividly landscaped sanctuary, exotic and native plants are mixed together as opulently and diversely as if the development’s namesake explorer himself had brought them back from his travels. Alexander von Humboldt saw nature as the planet’s true wealth and this unique courtyard park is a beautiful display of this philosophy.
The centerpiece of this private idyll will be a small body of water, encircled by tall, palm-like tree ferns. Perennials, waving grasses and rustling bamboo stalks in various shades of green, from moss to olive to emerald to mint, will unite to create a verdant backdrop. A wide variety of blossoms in eye-catching colors will bloom throughout nearly the entire year. Artfully placed, reliable garden classics like hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and yews in various sizes, some left to grow naturally, others meticulously shaped, will punctuate the arbor. Completing the clever landscaping concept for the ALEXANDER are individual low-growing trees like an ailanthus with capriciously fluttering pinna and a catalpa with its heart-shaped leaves and beautiful, bell-shaped blossoms.
„The aspect of a free and powerful vegetation refreshes and strengthens the mind.“
Alexander von Humboldt
The courtyard is partially modeled and terraced to emphasize certain visual axes and particular shrubs in addition to providing privacy. The curved pathways through this green cosmos are made with ultramodern TerraWay. This visually highly elegant permeable paving system is frost-resistant, swallows noise, doesn’t infringe on the natural habitat that the plants and trees require, and is even nice to walk on barefoot in summer. Additionally, some areas are laid out with slabs of dark slate. Seating areas with movable furniture invite residents to daydream away the hours. The irrigation of the courtyard will be via a sophisticated system that simplifies the care the area requires.
Thoughts of a garden
Residents will be able to visit the tranquil courtyard, in its central urban location between the Kurfürstendamm and Ludwigkirchplatz, to reflect and commune.
Let our namesake interject: “We have arrived in the most divine and fullest place. Wonderful plants, electric eels, tigers, monkeys, parrots;…and what trees — coconut palms, 50 to 60 feet high! But even more beautiful than these individual wonders is the sum total of this powerful and yet still light, joyous and mild natural plant force. I feel that I will be very happy here.” Alexander von Humboldt wrote these ecstatic words in a letter to his brother in 1799, after landing in Cuman, in what we know today as northern Venezuela, and at the time part of the enormous Spanish empire. Alexander von Humboldt researched in South, Central and North America for five years, crossing more than 9,600 kilometers — and remained under the spell of nature for the rest of his life, obsessively gathering, sketching, writing about and cataloguing his discoveries.
A similar passion for the infinite variations of leaves and flowers will also define the courtyard gardens of the ALEXANDER.
