Initial Object Exploration: Japanese Hill and Pond Garden

| Initial Object Exploration: Japanese Hill and Pond Garden |

Intro to Design Studies

Japanese Hill and Pond Garden – Brooklyn Botanical Garden

 

My chosen object to explore is the “Japanese Hill and Pond Garden” in Brooklyn Botanical Garden. This designed space is an area, which is one part of the big urban garden in Brooklyn, New York. The “Japanese Hill and Pond Garden” is inspired by Japanese architectures, gardens, and nature in Japan. It consists of artificial pond and hills that go around it, a waterfall, and an island, which is decorated with rocks. Also, it has Japanese architectures like wooden bridges, stone lanterns, a pavilion, and Shinto shrine with the gateway (the Torii). The main element in this garden is the plants and flowers that were found in Japanese gardens. According to Brooklyn Botanical garden, “the Japanese gardens are designed to mirror nature” (source1), therefore the design of the garden is focused on its nature. Japan has clear four seasons during the year and people enjoy the nature’s change throughout each season. For instance, cherry blossom is something Japanese people appreciate during springtime. The Botanical garden managed to plant different kinds of cherry blossom trees in order to bring Japanese culture of flower viewing, also known as Hanami. This emphasizes the Japanese idea of beauty in nature. Also, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden focuses the principles in Japanese gardens such as simplicity and asymmetries. So the design is well balanced to keep its principles. They state that “balance between the man-made and natural, and impermanence and constancy.”(source1) By being aware of these aspects of design, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden achieved to create the Japanese garden in the middle of Brooklyn.

 

The most important senses in the garden would be sight and smell. The garden should be visually beautiful in order to catch people to attention and bring people to see it. Also smell of nature, mostly flowers is an important aspect of botanical gardens. Hearing might also be as important since the sound of nature can be healing for people, and this could be one reason for people to come to the garden. The garden should consist the sound of nature and has no man-made sounds, such as car sound. Touch might also be important because people can touch the plants and flowers, or touch the architectures in the garden, but this depends on how people experience nature and the garden. The garden is designed for people to see, hear and feel the beauty of nature and simplicity. It is a place where people can gather, or relax depending how people feel when they visit. The design of this garden is also the way to spread the Japanese culture and allow people to experience it. Since the garden is focused on its simplicity and the beauty in nature, the garden could make the visitors feel calm and relaxing. It might be new to some people but also it might be nostalgic to other people. The beauty of this place is that it is personal, which means people can have different feelings to it and can relate to different memories from their experiences. But it is also a place where people can have new experiences at the same time.

 

I believe that the overall design of this garden conveys the traditional Japanese style garden even though it is Brooklyn. I think it is really impressive how precisely they achieved to represent the Japanese culture and beauty of Japanese gardens. The one reason why it achieved it was that it was designed by a Japanese landscape designer, Takeo Shiota. Also, the garden is well organized and clean is because there is a curator who takes care of it. Brian Funk is the curator since 2000, and he focuses on maintaining the balance of man-made and natural elements. He maintained this by selecting the plants and flowers when the garden was in restoration and that selection of important elements of the garden is a crucial part of designing the space.

 

By exploring this designed space, “Japanese Hill and Pond Garden,” I could find more about the significance of culture to society and how society appreciates or don’t appreciate them. I want to explore the relationship of culture and society. Specifically, I could look into the Japanese culture by exploring the garden and how did this affect the people in America when it first came. I believe looking into the Japanese culture and its historical background, and compare it with the chosen designed object/space is interesting. Also exploring the idea of the Japanese garden and how people react and interact with the garden in America to see how much the garden is representing the culture and its style.

 

Sources:

1. https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/japanese_garden

2. https://www.bbg.org/collections/cherry_stages