The ancient Cistercian monastery of Herrevads kloster stands some three kilometers from where I live, near Ljungbyhed in north-west Scania. Founded by French monks in the 12th century, the monastery included the cloister buildings and a basilica nearly as large as the cathedral at Lund. The celebrated sixteenth-century nobleman, astronomer, chemist and astrologist Tycho Brahe lived here for a few years, setting up a workshop for his experiments in one of the cellars. During a nocturnal walk on November 11th, 1572, he observed a change in the firmament and made a sensational discovery - a new star in the Cassiopeia constellation. The gravelled castle courtyard of today presents a dismal and sterile appearence and the U-shape of the buildings is directed towards a desert of lawn that does not inspire much joy. Actually, it is, or could be a supremely beautiful space, yet it is totally devoid of people in summer as well as in winter.

This virtual creation - The park of Herrevad is dedicated to Tycho Brahe and the astronomy. The parterre patterns are made of the decorated cloister bricks and patterns from the French cistercian cloister windows.

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