Today we had our last plants
test of the semester. We piled into the vans and headed for the San Antonio
Botanical Gardens. Like any other identification exam, we divided into two
groups: one with Gary, the other with harlen. Everyone had spent the past few
days reviewing the drawings in our sketchbooks, so it went
really well. The gardens were incredible. We saw a beautiful pomegranate tree,
something most of us had not seen before. The gardens were full of diversity.
They referenced some of the Mission ruins and aqueduct that we drew elsewhere in San
Antonio, such as the acequia (limestone water channel) that started at a hilltop gazebo and spiraled
down the hill. There was a production garden and many different native Texas
plant demonstrations.They even had a Japanese garden, where you had to stay on
the stepping stones while journeying through and could not touch the grass. In Japanese Garden design, there is a common phrase/theory: Ashimoto ni ki o tsukenasai meaning Watch Your Step. This experience is intended to make you more aware of yourself and your place in the world. The
fencing surrounding this garden was made of bamboo. Needless
to say, the Botanical Gardens were an incredible place for a classroom.
Afterwards,
we headed to the Sunken Gardens (also known as the Chinese Gardens and the
Japanese Tea Gardens) which were located at the ruins of a limestone quarry.
Being as limestone was very prevalent in this area, the gardens were
constructed using limestone for paving, benches, stairs, columns, bridges, and
as the foundation and walls for the many terraces of plant beds. Our
assignment was to sketch a few
details from this site and to consider how successful this site was in terms of
adaptive reuse. We agreed that these gardens did not have the clean edges and
calm feeling that the Japanese Gardens at the botanical gardens did.
However,
the designers did use the site well: The massive void left by the removal of
limestone created a mountain backdrop and a pool which symbolize the yin and
the yang - a theme we read about in Michael Martin’s reading. It was an
intriguing way to reuse the land and we will surely be thinking about it over
the next few weeks in studio while re-designing a place of our own: the Swift
packing plant ruins.
Erin and Meredith
No comments:
Post a Comment