The Middelheim Museum exhibits its modern and contemporary sculpture collection, one of the most important in Europe, in a 19^th Century neo-romantic park with large, centenarian trees. Following the purchase of the land adjoining the park, an expansion of six hectares became possible, where large metallic pieces from the 1960s were to be exhibited, as well as contemporary works.

In contrast to the historical garden, the contemporary garden was conceived as a kind of orchard. Next to the large trees of the preexisting park, which reach heights of over twenty meters, we decided to plant an ornamental orchard made up of 1,500 blooming apple and pear trees, which constitute a lower stratum reaching a height of six to seven meters. The trees are planted in varying patterns. Distributed and arranged in several ways, the plantings create both dense areas as well as more open spaces for the placement of sculptures. A significantly reduced budget led us to this rational approach in conception, which avoided confining the project in advance to a formal design.