A white gravel lake with green
islands of grass. A walkway of stones that draw the observer to the center. And
yards of mulch for plantings.
Students from Prof. Nixi Cura's
Asian Garden Design seminar this week were applying the final touches to an Asian
Garden they are installing in the
courtyard between Bailey and Steinmetz.
The unveiling is set for Friday,
Nov. 14, at 3:30 p.m. with a tea
ceremony led by Prof. Anna Kimura and a reception at 4 p.m. The rain location is Bailey 207.
The garden is the culmination of a
class in which the 12 students worked in two teams to design a garden for the
site. Just as in a real-life design competition, both teams made formal
presentations to a panel of impressed faculty members, who asked questions and
chose a design.
The 100- by 100-foot garden uses plantings,
trees, shrubs, and “metaphorical water features” like grass, gravel and
bluestone, according to Cura. “As the viewer, you can engage your imagination
to see that these are water features,” she said.
The class, which included majors
in art history, East Asian Studies, engineering and theater, studied garden
design throughout the term. They also visited gardens including the New York
Chinese Scholar's Garden on Staten Island and the Oriental
Garden at Peabody
Essex Museum
in Salem, Mass.
In keeping with the tradition of
Asian gardens, the sections have names: the “Area of Forbidden Pruning” (a nod
to landscape specialist Connie Schmitz who made it clear that some species are
off limits) and the “Path of Unseen Wealth” (pennies hidden beneath a flagstone
walkway).
And in keeping with tradition of
the ephemerality of gardens as aesthetic object in historical China,
the garden will be dismantled by next year's class, Cura said.
“Not only did we learn about Chinese and Japanese
gardens,” said senior Chris Wai, an East Asian Studies major who was fixing a
patch of grass on Wednesday. “We presented our designs in a formal program. You
just can't learn that in a class.”
Asked whether he might pursue a
career in creating Asian gardens, Wai said, “Maybe not, but when I look at them
I'll appreciate them a lot more.”