Man-Made Paradise | The gardening season has begun, and there are many lucky ones who spend their time in the garden with nature to recuperate the energy of mind and body. For many centuries, gardening has served as an outlet for people, allowing them to merge with nature and create their own small worlds. We have different types of art. But some gardens can be called real works of art…
Source: Flickr
Las Rozas Park – a unique surreal world by sculptor Edward James in the jungle of Mexico.
Source: Flickr
This beautiful garden of the world is the work of Edward James, a famous English philanthropist and patron of surreal art. Las Pozas is like a Garden of Eden. It covers about 80 acres of land. Many unique tropical trees and other vegetation grow here. Natural floristic compositions wonderfully complement the original artificial concrete structures, sculptures, and waterfalls.
The name of the park in Spanish means "pools", and there really are a lot of water bodies. Streams originating in the Sierra Gorda mountains feed 9 natural reservoirs of the park. James turned streams into picturesque waterfalls, turning streams of water into small lakes. Each waterfall and lake has a unique beauty; cosy beaches with figures of boats and walls with loopholes create a surprisingly romantic atmosphere. More at the previous post
02. Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Thailand
Source: Flickr
Named after one of its founders, Mrs Nong Nooch Tansacha, and now belongs to her son. Initially, Nong Nooch Park was supposed to become a large-scale vegetable and fruit plantation; however, Mrs Nong Nooch and Mr Pisit decided that tourism was a promising development direction for Thailand, and something needed to be done to attract visitors. However, the full construction of the park was completed only in 2001, half a century after its foundation.
Nong Nooch Park is a rare plant (some of which are no longer found in the wild) and a somewhat kitsch but incredibly complex landscape design. Decor elements and Versailles Park, Buddhist pagodas, English telephone booths, Thai-style flowerpot sculptures and Stonehenge of our own ... No wonder Nong Nooch is loved by both adults and children! In the centre of the park you can find the luxurious automobile collection of the current owner. Today, the main task of Nong Nooch Park, in addition to entertaining the public, is the conservation of endangered species of palm trees and ferns.
Source: Flickr
The Garden of Cosmic Reflections is located in the most picturesque and beloved tourist region of Scotland, surrounded by ancient castles and famous museums. Thirty years ago, a married couple – the architect Charles Jencks and the landscape designer Maggie Keswick – decided to combine their talents and capital to create a scientific and mystical garden complex. Maggie loved Eastern philosophy and Chinese gardens, and Charles loved astronomy and physics. Spouses considered the park of the universe in miniature.
Strange artificial ponds, hills, stairs, and sculptures seem to be abstract art objects, but each of the garden's attractions reflects a particular scientific idea. A snail shell, built on the basis of the Fibonacci sequence; a ladder illustrating the diversity of life forms; a fractal landscape and pools with black holes; mathematical symmetries and logarithmic curves ... Visitors will discover scientific riddles among green spaces and try to solve them.
Today, the Garden of Cosmic Reflections plays not only a scientific and cognitive role but also a social role. Funds received from visitors are directed to the account of the Maggie Keswick Cancer Patient Charity Fund. Source
Source: Flickr
The Japanese are renowned for their special love of flowers. Kawachi Fuji Hanging Garden, located in the small town of Kitakyushu, becomes a real tourist holy place in mid-May; however, the owners decided to open it to foreigners only four decades after its creation. Wicker flower tunnels, tents, and hinged roofs made of wisteria seem to be created by nature itself and not by the hands of talented landscape designers.
Wisteria is one of the state symbols of Japan, and Kawachi Fuji has the richest collection of wisteria in the world – white and blue, lilac and blue. In the evenings, fabulous gardens seem completely surreal thanks to the skilful lighting. But not only the wisteria delights the visitors (and the sense of smell!). Of visitors – the garden is filled with flowering plums, rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas, clematis, petunias, and irises ... All these plants are symbolic for Buddhism, and the Kawachi Fuji garden is considered a great place for meditation, but there is only one month in a year – and early in the morning, until it is awash with crowds of tourists. For the remaining eleven months, the park is strictly closed to visitors. Source
Source: Flickr
And, of course, this list would not be complete without the magnificent garden of the Australian artist Bruno Torfs in the small village of Maryville near Melbourne. The garden is a completely different universe, inhabited by elves and gnomes, nymphs, and forest gods. It was created from clay and wood by one person – the artist Bruno Torfs. These arts are hidden behind the trunks of mighty eucalyptus trees, in thickets of bushes, or simply on the banks of a quiet stream; here and there in the garden are the artist’s creations, both fabulous and very similar to people. A garden with 200 clay sculptures was opened, each with its own unique mood and character. A very pleasant place where you can walk, examine the creations in exquisite detail, inhale the clear mountain air, listen to the birds singing and, just for a short while, imagine that you are somewhere in the magical land of fairies, elves, and other fairy-tale heroes.
Alas, the fire in 2009 significantly damaged Torfs's masterpiece. But the locals managed to defend more than half of the sculptor's work, and he enthusiastically took up the restoration of the garden. Source
No comments:
Post a Comment