As the 2005-06 school year came to a close, one hidden spot on campus was celebrating a beginning.
In a shady spot near Jackson's Garden and alongside Hans Groot's Kill, Union's new Asian garden now grows.
Built by students in the spring-term Asian Garden Design seminar (AAH480) taught by Prof. Nixi Cura, it was unveiled earlier this month with a celebration that included music by Union's own Taiko (Japanese drums) Ensemble.
Nine students built the garden from a plan submitted by one of two competing student teams. It differs from previous gardens devised by seminar students because of its concealed location in a wooded area.
“This is my favorite area,” said winning design team member Guy Corey '08. “It's tucked away.” Other team members included Andrew Cody '09, Alex Mossman '06 and Greta Murphy '09.
The winning proposal uses the creek to incorporate water, one of the four basic themes of Japanese gardens (the others are plants, rocks and architecture). It features a three-piece archway to signal “that one is entering into an enclosed garden paradise, separate from the normal world.”
Viewers who meander along the stone path also will find a teardrop space that lines the semicircular stone wall, spruce shrubs and ground cover, a rock garden and a hosta pond filled with white cobble to mimic a pool. The hidden bench under the dogwood tree is intended to “incite curiosity in the viewer to look for the mysterious perspective from above.”
The garden design seminar is a good example of Union's Converging Technologies approach, which brings together engineering and the sciences with liberal arts programs in exciting, innovative ways.
The garden construction and reception received support from the East Asian Studies Program and the Department of Visual Arts, and students in the seminar worked collaboratively using engineering design principles with their art history background to tackle an aesthetic challenge.
“They learn something about how art is made, and they learn something about how to work with other people,” Cura said.