Exchange Between the East and West in Gardening
After a little bit of research on how the East has influenced the West in design I decided to focus on gardens. Gardening is an art often thought of as expressing the relationship between humans and nature. Culture is something that has heavily influenced the way gardening is portrayed in the East and the West.
In the 17th century Italian, French, and British gardening was dominated by rigid formal symmetry and were immaculately clipped. You might think of the straight neat rows in gardens like at Versailles. This was thought to represent the garden of Eden and striving for a sense of perfection.
In the 17th century an English ambassador wrote of the gardening in China where there was more of an appreciation for irregularity and asymmetry. In contrast to neat rows, Chinese gardens have winding paths. They have water elements, rock decorations, maybe lotus ponds, and small scenes set up as you wander through the garden. This is more in line with Zen Buddhism and tranquility rather than perfection.
I’m attaching two pictures so you can see the contrast.
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/10/what-english-style-owes-to-asian-gardens, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/architecture/features-garden.htm, https://scienceblog.com/32118/comparison-of-chinese-and-western-gardening-art/
