The garden varies in appearance according to both time of day and time of year, creating a unique space for meditative dialogues between nature and man. It is the ideal spot to retreat from the bustle of daily life and to recalibrate both mind and body.
Description of project by Junya Ishigami
The site was originally heavily wooded before it was cleared for rice fields. Later, it became meadowlands. By maximizing the environmental potential of this land, we will create a new landscape that fuses “density” and “relationship” which do not coexist in nature.
Specifically, we will transport and replant trees from adjacent meadowlands, the development site for a new hotel complex. The plan is for the trees which would be cut down for the development to be saved and remain in this area. We will use traditional tools used for leveling water when the site was rice fields as a way to bring the beautiful flowing river onto the site. We will replant and have carpets of moss growing wild on the surrounding forest floors.
Trees, water, moss. These three existing elements are combined and re-emerge to form a new landscape.
We researched the species and configuration of the original trees on the property and carefully rearranged them in different places. We’ll create numerous ponds between the trees to allow the reflection of the sunlight that filters through and plant moss to fill the spaces between the trees and ponds.
The landscape created by this method consists of the same environmental components originally on the site but will become “new nature” by combining the various elements in a new configuration emphasizing aspects of nature that could not be made by man and the elements of manmade art that cannot be found in nature.
