November 18, 2003

Students create Asian Garden between Bailey and Steinmetz

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."

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