Figure 1.  Giant cloud-rocks in Nan Lian Garden. They do not serve as main characters in the garden but a humble part of the whole journey experience.

In fact, in Chinese landscape planning, Chinese ancestors categorized the natural elements into 5 categories: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. These elements have different characters and must coexist to gain a harmonious balance. The way to interpret this relationship is called “Feng Shui”, literally translated as “wind and water”, which means the elements in nature, will greatly influence the beneficial aspects of people and other creatures living there. It is a Taoist point of philosophy that all forces of the universe (either human or nature) have to be in balance in order to survive.

The western concept of land art is very different from their counterpart. For they do not have the concept of  “Feng Shui” to incorporate with nature, but like a composer, armed with the idea of the biblical role that man being the lord of all creations and center of the universe, creating a picturesque garden in his own way. This design approach can be very creative as there are no rules to guide or restrict their limitation, but would bring negativity if one fails to handle it properly. Since ancient Roman times, most garden design does not fit with the natural course of landscape but have a strong notion of man above nature or the center of the universe. Most architectural design could identify the straight cross symbol on their plans (Kassler, 1964, p.7). Such design concepts influence modern western landscape design and such concepts are visible in Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte, the White House Gardens and Alnwick Garden. In western culture, and even in modern America, people would view landscape design as a job for architects instead of a job for artists. Most of those designs are centered on functional uses and the comfort of man and most are in symmetrical patterns. Their way of harmony can be described as subjective because until the seventeenth century, Europeans designed their gardens as paintings and compose it on canvas. This would limit the garden’s space in harmony with the place as the design is based on the aesthetic of a perspective painting. 

This does not mean westerners could not establish their relationship with nature. They establish such relationship in their own way. They started a new language as a subjective expression of their feelings and a way to interact with their environment. Such as the cross symbol, the item itself might not be in harmony with the environment but it shows the artist’s relationship with nature. This is because they lack the design concept of “the spirit of the place”.

Figure 2. Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte, designed 1656-61 by Andre Le Notre, from a seventh-century engraving by Perelle. Nature played a subordinate, almost extraneous part (Kassler, 1964, pp. 4).

Figure 3. View from the private chateau, Vaux-Le-Vicomte. Modern day photo of the Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte. From this angle the garden present its grandeur to its visitor and one can simply capture everything from a single view (Petro Photo, date unknown).

Figure 4. Aerial view of Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte. This photo shows the cross in the middle and a strong symmetrical design. Same biblical concept of man above nature and man is the center of the universe (Scazenave on Flickr, date unknown).

Figure 5: The White House Garden aerial view. A red cross superimposed on the image shows the symmetrical pattern and biblical cross with the White House at the intersection (Google maps, 2013).

Figure 6. Arial view of Alnwick Garden. The same cross pattern can be seen from the plan of Alnwick Garden (Google maps, 2013).

Chapter 2. Genius Loci

The concept of “the spirit of the place”, or genius loci, does not appear until Alexander Pope’s original interpretation in 1731 (Kassler, 1964):

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Consult the Genius of the Place in all;
That tells the Waters or to rise, or fall;
Or helps th’amnitious Hill the heavens to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the Vale;
Calls in the Country, catches op’ening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades;
Now breaks, or now directs, th’intending Lines;
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.



His interpretation of genius loci is similar to the concept of ancient oriental artists planning out their gardens: The first line of the poem shows his intention to “consult” the land, to pay homage to the place and knowing what would be best for the land and be able to benefit both human and the environment. The second line is to understand the direction of flow of water, where the ponds should be, and positions of waterfalls. The third line is concerned about the position of mountains, and according to their flow to create paths that would circle around them. Fourthly comes the sense of space, the sound of the place, be it lush or still, the pattern of light from the trees shades.  Last but not least, it is important to know the art of work. Instead of focusing so much on the speed of completion, we should allow the process to follow their natural course. For example, if a gardener discovered a habitat during his excavation, he would have to stop and reconsider his plan in order to preserve the animals, so that his garden can blend in with nature.

Modern architectural education emphasize greatly on the importance of genius loci. However, the interpretation of it is centered on the sense of space rather than on the natural environment since most people dwell in urban cities and have less contact with nature now. This resulted in a huge change in concept in modern urban human-nature relationships. It can be seen in the following few examples. Modernist created their own language with nature based on their current knowledge, methods and believes. In other words, their interpretation of place is mixed with their own feeling of place and personal characteristics, creating a new alien language. A group of self claimed conceptualists (a specific group of avant-garde modernists) have isolated art from nature since city dwellers had long lost the connection with nature. They created a new “reality” of nature (eg. plastic tree trunks) for the city dwellers and claimed it would look more harmonious than planting a fake garden. This idea will be further discuss in Chapter 5.
 

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Chapter 3. The Concept of Oriental Garden

The origins of oriental gardening design come from China. During the Tang Dynasty (Running from AD 618 to AD 907), Chinese culture has strongly influenced eastern Asia especially Japan and Korea. Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism were Tang’s national and cultural believes.  These theoretical thinking were applied to daily lives to the extent of construction of temples and landscaping design. The essence of oriental garden is based on harmony between human and nature, such relationship can be described as “human and nature as one”. Such respect and emphasis on human relationship with their environment (and could further developed as the truth of universe) could be stronger than any aesthetic or functional reasoning implication during a design process.

In ancient times, artists built most gardens as they view it as a piece of art instead of architecture. Most gardens were built as a place for meditation. It is the spiritual essence of harmony (or a feeling of at peace) in human and nature relationship that the ancients priced most.

Here is a poem by Tao Yuanming, also known as Tao Qian, a Chinese poet in Jin Dynasty describing his feelings to his garden.



飲酒詩二十首之五
I built my house among men
But no sound of horse of carriage disturbs me.
How can that be?
In the remote heart, every place is a retreat.

I picked the Chrysanthemum at the east fence,
Watching the southern mountains
The atmosphere was high
Birds are returning to their nest.

There are deeper meanings in such things,
But I have forgotten the words to express them.



                                                                                       Poems of Tao Yuanming (365-427)

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In this poem Tao described the atmosphere of his garden and the essence of the Chinese gardening design. In Chinese landscape design theory, the ancestors designed their gardens as a miniature version of the universe. Human and nature coexist in an environment in a harmonious way. Both benefit from each other and blend together harmoniously. Everything fits in their assigned place as if they were born to be there.  Therefore everything has its own spirit, always changing, self-maintaining and alive. The “quality without a name” (Alexander, 1979) could be found there. The poet felt it, and would be the same living garden we can feel today if the harmony was not broken. Such deep and complex feelings could not be expressed through words; thus he reserved his speech to allow us to experience it for ourselves.
During Ming Dynasty, in the year 1631, “Yuan Ye”, otherwise known as The Craft of Gardens, written by Ji Cheng, was the first Chinese document on the design of landscape gardening. In this book he described many practical uses of architectural design principles and technique in Chinese gardening design.
In it, he mentioned the art of borrowing; which is to use existing external environment or interacting existing objects in the garden to form a picturesque scenery. This technique adds depth to the scene and enriches the view.

Another theory that influenced oriental landscape design is “Feng Shui”. It can be considered as mythical believe but in truth, practical science. Similar to the art of borrowing, it borrows the existing “forces” of the site to achieve a proper balance. This is done in harmony with nature through locating, orientating and designing structures, gardens, etc.

Figure 7. The “Feng Shui” compass (also known as Luopan) still being used today. The annotated list explains the 18 layers on the compass in Chinese
(http://www.iching.com.my/loupan-en.htm, 2012).

Figure 24. The central Grand Cascade.

Figure 25. The cross section of the garden. The highlighted area illustrates how the whole view of the garden could be seen at the top of the hill.

From the main entrance point of view (Figure 23. on p.28) the visitor can almost take in the whole garden with one glance. It lacks depth or mystery as the plan is very clear and symmetrical. Setting against a slope, it gives a dramatic grand feeling of a great entrance, other than that, there’s nothing much to excite the visitor as one can see everything from the vantage point at the top of the hill (Figure 21. on p.26).

The garden does not integrate much with nature but built itself as individual elements linked together. The visitor could not transit between elements smoothly along the main circulation path but have to locate and seek them out through out the garden in order to approach them. Most visitors would approach the Oriental Garden through the Grand Cascade, then walk all the way back down from the other side and pass the bamboo maze. The Rose Garden, Cherry Orchard and the pond could not be located without the help of the map, because they are located behind another element off the main road that visitors might miss. This is due to the whole site being planned out as picturesque scenery like a beautiful backdrop in the theater. The flower booth would be in full bloom during summer but barren in winter thus reducing the number mystical places to involve one’s imagination. In addition the bamboo maze was not planned and maintained adequately.

Huge trees are sparsely separated in the fore and middle ground of the garden with climbing plants on wired fence occupying the rest of the space; resulting in the lack of shading from the winter sun. The form and shape of the plants are tightly controlled and the garden loses its colour when the leaves are lost. If the idea of symmetry in plan is to be applied, an open grass field in front of the visitors’ pavilion contrasting it with the dense bamboo maze would be too great a difference. All elements in the garden do not blend together smoothly, and with its site environment as well (grass hills or taller trees around the area).

Figure 26. Wired frame with climbing plants and barren trees surround the Grand Cascade. The garden lacks shading during the day.

Although Wirtz had claimed that their respect to nature, i.e. their attention to detail and use of plants to compose a beautiful garden in its own rights had gained them success; but if a garden cannot co-exist with the natural forces and be self-sustainable it is not in harmony with nature and therefore, it cannot be considered as having a “tranquil spirit” as Wirtz proposed.

Figure 27.  Bamboo Maze. The overgrown bamboos are too packed and bugs thrive there due to lack of sunlight.  An all-season garden is absent though it was claimed by the Economist and proposed by Wirtz. The garden itself is quite unsustainable without high maintenance.

Figure 28. One of the existing elements connected to the garden, the tree house restaurant.

Figure 29. Oriental Garden.

​Nan Lian Garden, Kowloon, HK
A modern garden based on Tang Dynasty garden design.

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Chapter 1. Garden History and Site Environment

Nan Lian Garden is a modern public garden proposed by Chi Lin Nunnery and sponsored by the Hong Kong Government (opened to public in 2006). It is located in Diamond Hill, a green island in the middle of an area surrounded by residential buildings, traffic high way, shopping complexes and metro connection. The garden is connected to the Nunnery through a high bridge.