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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. City and Nature Master Garden in Xi’an, China by Martha Schwartz PartnersJuly 16th, 2017 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Martha Schwartz Partners Martha Schwartz Partners was one of nine international landscape design firms to be invited to design a small master garden installation on the theme of “the harmonious co-existence of nature and the city” at the 2011 International Horticulture Exhibition in Xi’an, China. The owner’s brief specified that the designer should consider the limitations of local building materials and methods, and that the garden should be accessible to a Chinese point of view.  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners
 Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners The theme of this garden installation is “City and Nature” and is composed of four elements: traditional grey brick walls and paving, Weeping Willows, one-way mirrors, and bronze bells. The aesthetic direction was derived partly from vernacular Chinese architecture and its close relationship to nature. The “city” is entirely walled by simple, 3-meter high brick walls that seem to have no entrance. One enters the “city” through two ends of an open hallway created by a blank but totally mirrored wall facing a façade of five archways. These archways penetrate 1.5 meter thick walls with weeping willows on top and connect to a series of courtyards. They are overarched with weeping willow branches which are hung with over 1000 small tuned bronze bell wind chimes. The sonic pitch of the bells is aligned with the width of the courtyards below. The number of possible archways to move through increases as one begins to walk through the space, creating a situation where people must begin to choose where to go and what route to try – an endless choice of routes through the maze. At the same time, no one quite knows where they are going and what to expect. It creates an experience of fun, discovery and perhaps some anxiety.  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners At each end of the transverse courtyards are mirrored walls which create an illusion of in nite space. As one penetrates the last of these courtyards, one enters a dark, enclosed exit corridor and is confronted with a wall of one-way mirrors facing a mirrored garden room with a grid of willow trees that seems to go on forever. One abruptly transitions from endless city to endless nature.  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners Exiting via dark covered corridors, one discovers that many of the mirrors they had encountered on the way through the transverse courtyards are actually one-way mirrors, through which they can observe others from the hidden dark corridor. This effect comes at a surprise to the visitors who were not aware until now that they can be watched from behind the mirrors. People can vicariously and secretively watch newcomers in the maze while hidden in the hidden dark orridor.  Image Courtesy © Martha Schwartz Partners
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