Botanica is planning an expansion to include
a Scholar-type Chinese garden, inviting traditional Chinese gardening to
Wichita. The Chinese Garden of Friendship will demonstrate traditional Chinese architecture,
art and culture to inspire the community.
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Bird’s eye
view of the Chinese Garden of Friendship (Images courtesy of GLMV Architecture)
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The Chinese Garden of Friendship will be
located at the northeast corner of Botanica. The Scholar-type design reached
its peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and has since become famous
around the world. Kaifeng, Henan, China, is a sister city to Wichita, and was
the capital city of the Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD). Kaifeng has a long history
of building Chinese gardens. The new addition will reflect the cultural,
historical and architectural relationship between the two cities.
Design
The design creates a series of unique spaces
found in the traditional Scholar-type Chinese garden and detailed architecture
with elegant Song Dynasty style. At the same time, it reflects an understanding
of Chinese culture and history, using a specialized and sophisticated knowledge
of traditional Chinese and modern American building techniques. It will comply
with all ADA (handicapped accessibility) rules. Local building materials will
be used.
The site of the Chinese Garden of Friendship
will encompass a little more than 0.3 acre. Traditional Chinese gardening,
architecture, culture, art and philosophy are revealed through experiencing
this space. The Chinese Garden is divided into two major parts. On the southeast
side will be the courtyard, with an inner garden area. This area will be known
as the “earthly world,” an area where people live, work and experience “earthly
life.” The “heavenly world,” or “dream world,” will be found on the north side.
It will be a peaceful place that reflects the owner’s ideal dream world.
A prominent part of the Chinese Garden is a
manmade mountain with a series of various traditional Chinese architectural
features, including a small waterfall and cliffs harmoniously placed around the
edge of the pond.
Southeast Part – “Earthly World”
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Rose
Wind Pavilion 薇風廊
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The southeast part consists of a closed
entrance space, to visually prepare visitors entering the garden. It is a formal
courtyard with a pagoda-styled sculpture to recall the Kaifeng cast-iron
pagoda. It will be located in the center of the courtyard, defining the main
axis of the southeast part of the Chinese Garden and showing the connection
between Wichita and Kaifeng. It also introduces the element of Buddhism, which
influenced China for thousands of years. The principal building is the Rose
Wind Pavilion. It is architecturally detailed in Song Dynasty style and will be
the place for assembly, photo opportunities related to weddings and other
activities. The series of varied spaces compose a major axis of the east part
and emphasize the formal style of the Chinese Garden. This especially captures
the idea of the absolute authority and control the owner has over this space.
Northwest Part – “Heavenly World”
The northwest part is the “dream world,” or
“heavenly world.” Nature, or the gods, rule this area and have power and
authority in contrast to the southeast part. Meanwhile, it is designed as part
of the house owner’s world view, and ideally is the reflection of the perfect
universe in his or her mind. This also is a very personalized area. This part
of the Chinese Garden consists of the Rose Wind Pavilion, an inviting place for
gathering of friends to discuss politics, poetry or philosophy. A group of
artificial rocks surrounds Treasured
Friend Pavilion with a bench and a view of bamboo plants. Treasured
Friend Pavilion offers an ideal and private place to enjoy the entire garden.
This promotes inner peace, personal awareness, understanding and meditation. A
curved, tile-capped wall connects the two pavilions, featuring a mural of the
famous painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by Song Dynasty
artist Zhang Zeduan. There is a small waterfall running out of the cliff, which
represents living water gathering to the ocean. There is also a mountain of
stacked stones representing the closest place to the heavens. All of these are
around a pure Koi (dragon, fortune, wellness and happiness)-living pond,
obviously representing the ocean. The Thousand-Foot Bridge will provide a place
to pause and think while looking at the mirror of this world reflected in the
pure and peaceful water. The bridge also divides the water into two parts. The
smaller area will be the aquatic plant garden representing an inland lake.
Finally, a small island will be located in the middle of the “ocean,” a place
where many gods reside.
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Treasured
Friend Pavilion 珍友亭
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Qingming Mural
Wall
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The Chinese Garden actually depicts the whole
universe. According to traditional Chinese philosophy, the sky, or the heaven,
has a round shape and the earth a square shape. The sky in the Chinese Garden
is shaped by its reflection in the round pond. The site of the courtyard
(earthly world) is defined by the surrounding square-shape walls. The garden
contains sky, sun, moon, stars, earth, mountain, ocean, lake, river, island,
plants and animals. They are formed by the five essential elements, which are
metal (stone), wood, water, fire and earth. This is the form of the universe in
traditional Chinese philosophy. The Chinese Garden demonstrates how
harmoniously and peacefully all elements coexist.
Architecture
The architecture of the Chinese Garden is
outstanding by its elegant Song Dynasty style, beautiful shaping and delicate
designs. The pavilions around the Chinese Garden share the characteristics of
small-sized, low-height and penetrative patterns. Stones are used in the bench,
table, and bank. Lake-stones are used in the mountain. There are many plants in
the Chinese Garden. The main species of plants are prunus mume, bamboo, green
maple, black pine, willow, wisteria and yulan. Flowers such as peony,
chrysanthemum and Chinese narcissus are planted throughout the Chinese Garden. The
fully designed layout of the Chinese Garden and the topography of the site are
perfectly matched. It not only minimizes the grading, but also maximizes the
use of nature’s energy.
Buildings and bricked or cobbled paths in the
Chinese Garden are fully accessible to the disabled.
Theme of the Garden
Prunus mume is the theme of the Chinese Garden.
The love for prunus mume in China is traditional in that it stands for the
unyielding integrity of a pure and honest person when facing adversity.
Personified prunus mume often appears in prose and verse. Decorated with the
design of prunus mume, the Chinese Garden expresses the admiration for prunus
mume and freedom from vulgarity. As the famous Chinese poet Su Shi writes, “江头千树春欲暗，竹外一枝斜更好,” “There are thousands of shady trees in spring
beside the river. A branch of prunus mume beyond the bamboo looks even better.”
This describes the theme of the Chinese Garden perfectly.
Conclusion
With exquisite gardening techniques,
deep cultural details and elegant garden intensions, the Chinese Garden of
Friendship will be a unique Chinese garden in the United States. It will
benefit the community it belongs to. It will promote the friendship between two
sister cities to a new level. It will become a national scenic delight, and
will gain a high reputation across the country.
