La Prairie
Louvain

La Prairie Louvain: A Collective and Artistic Greening Project in the Heart of District Central

La Prairie Louvain is a landmark initiative of District Central, designed to enrich the lives of those who work and live here. This monumental flower field, spanning over 18,000 square feet, provides a green space at the heart of an urban area that was once entirely paved over. As the first step in the Signature Interventions Plan, it embodies the commitment to transforming the neighborhood into an inspiring, welcoming, and vibrant place. The project was born out of the needs expressed by workers, business leaders, residents, and visitors of the district over the past few years.

The Three Flourishing Seasons of La Prairie Louvain

2023 – Here, We Sow Flourishing Projects
The first edition of La Prairie Louvain saw the creation of a monumental field of 10,000 sunflowers, planted in response to the aspirations of the neighborhood’s community. This strong, radiant, and unifying gesture marked the launch of the Signature Interventions Plan, sparking new collective energy in District Central. A symbol of a territory fertile with ideas, this first blooming laid the foundation for a living, evolving project.

🌻 Why the Sunflower?

A symbol of resilience, light… and circularity.
Cultivated in District Central for its beauty, usefulness, and imposing stature, the sunflower reflects both the sustainable spirit of La Prairie Louvain and the monumentality of the built environment that surrounds it. Every part of the plant is put to use: seeds for consumption, flowers for pollinators, and stems transformed into mulch.

2024 – A Meadow in Transformation
In 2024, La Prairie Louvain evolves into a wild meadow with vibrant colors, where perennials, annuals, and plants used in textile production coexist — a nod to the neighborhood’s manufacturing history. The whole is enhanced by an artistic arch that echoes the surrounding architecture. True to the project’s spirit, the soil is enriched with mulch made from the dried sunflowers of the previous edition — a circular and poetic gesture that extends the life of the flowers and nourishes those yet to come.

2025 – An Urban Oasis in Transformation
For its final edition on this site, La Prairie Louvain transforms into a wild meadow whose heart features a pollinator-friendly garden, encircled by District Central’s iconic mammoth sunflowers. The artistic arch makes a grand return, framing this vibrant botanical scene. The perennials and shrubs from the pollinator garden will then be recovered and replanted at other sites across the neighborhood, spreading the project’s spirit beyond its original boundaries — like a form of urban pollination.

The 4 Pillars of the Concept

Reveal the Territory
The installations interact with the built environment: they embrace the winds that sweep through the neighborhood and rise to the scale of the landscape, highlighting the monumentality of the architectural and industrial setting.

Honor the Textile Heritage
La Prairie Louvain weaves ties with the business community by cultivating plants used in textile production — a vibrant nod to the neighborhood’s manufacturing history.

Celebrate Biodiversity
The colorful, species-rich meadow fosters biodiversity while illustrating the productivity, resilience, and regeneration of the neighborhood — symbols of a thriving circular economy.

Create a Legacy for the Neighborhood
The perennials and shrubs planted at the heart of La Prairie Louvain 2025 will be recovered and replanted elsewhere in District Central, ensuring the project’s ecological and symbolic continuity.