Where gardens speak to your spirit

The gardens of Japan have been described as works of art that use nature as a material of creation. Indeed, nature is at the heart of Japanese art and culture. Every aspect of the Japanese lifestyle manifests a deep reverence for natural wonders. Their gardens are not an exception.

They are packed with symbolism and cultural expressions and are designed to speak to the spirit: to free up the mind and allow for meditation. The user is lured to reconnect with nature and to be awed by its endless mysteries. Peace, tranquillity and harmony resonate through the gardens' spaces, revitalising the tired mind and reviving the weary soul. Today we look at a few principals that make up the design of Japanese gardens.

Void and balance

In Japan, entering a group and becoming a member has a great social importance. Hence, entries to the garden are important. The main gates as well as entrances to other parts of the garden are clearly framed and ornamented. Different scenes within the garden may be divided by gates, a grove of trees, or a bend or rise in the path. The aim is to progressively reveal the different spaces to the roving eye.

Voids are best described by the word "ma" defined as a space or a void. This void may be physical, social or temporal such as a punctuation of movement in a Japanese dance or theatre, moments of silence in music, social distance between host and guest during a tea ceremony, emptiness left in an ink painting, or expressive voids within the garden. As in the other forms of art, these gaps in the garden are intentional and are meant to trigger the imagination of the user.

Balance is another important design principle that gives the garden a Japanese look and feel. Balance is asymmetric: no single item is absolutely dominant nor any axis followed in the arrangement of elements. This allows the eye to meander around the entire space and partake of its intricate details.

Symbols

Deep meaning is achieved by including symbolic images such as triads of boulders to represent images of Buddha and his attendants. Miniature islands or mountain depict good fortune or long life. A solitary rock in a pond symbolise the place where the immortals are said to live.

Similarly, images of extensive landscape features are miniaturised in small garden spaces. Boulders in a sheet of white sand represent a mountain rising from the ocean. The patterns created on a raked sand bed symbolise the waves and ripples that characterise the surface of the ocean. Distant landscape features may also be incorporated as integral parts of the garden by linking them visually to the gardens' spaces.

Mitate (me-tah-teh)

Mitate is the process of seeing anew or of finding a new use for an old object. An excavated stone can find new function as the base of a lantern. Smoothened mill stones often found new use as stepping stones for the garden paths.

Another distinct character of Japanese gardens is in their planning. While a conventional garden is developed down from the master plan, the Japanese garden is designed up from the details. Natural materials are chosen, one by one, for unique qualities, studied for balance when positioned. Based on the effect achieved, another follows until the entire garden is realised

Related Topics

Japanese gardens