Japanese Garden tea house (photo by Brian Libby)
As reported in last Thursday's Daily Journal of Commerce by Nathalie Weinstein, Portland’s Japanese Garden is in the process of selecting an architect to design an expansion of the Washington Park.
The Garden is focusing on firms in Japan for its search so that the expansion is authentic as possible, and this could result in a major Japanese architect designing in Portland. A landscape architect is also being sought to make associated improvements.
The Japanese Garden's expansion will include construction of a new administration building, gift store and a tea house that will serve Japanese cuisine and beverages. Although the Garden already has a gift store and tea house, they are located within the gates of the garden and not accessible without paying admission. The tea house, but it is only for demonstrative purposes and not meant for public use.
Rendering of Kengo Kuma's Dundee V&A design (image courtesy BBC News)
Garden officials are already considering one candidate for the expansion commission, acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. His portfolio includes some very impressive projects and commissions, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum satellite being built in Dundee, Scotland, for which Kuma recently won a design competition over internationally renowned firms like Snøhetta and Steven Holl Architects.
I had the opportunity to visit a completed Kuma design three years ago, and it was breathtaking: the Bamboo House, which is part of a high end luxury resort called Commune by the Great Wall planned by the ambitious Chinese husband-and-wife developers Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin and featuring 11 private villas and a clubhouse, each designed by a leading Asian architect. The development is located in the shadow of the Great Wall, about an hour's drive north of Beijing. The Bamboo House was festooned with seemingly nothing but bamboo and glass, and even compared to houses by a variety of other top Asian architects in the development Kuma's design stood out.
Kuma's Bamboo House in China (photos by Brian Libby)
Kuma will visit Portland next week to give a lecture and present his proposed design to the Japanese Garden’s selection committee. Although the lecture is sold out, Kuma’s design will be on display at the Garden’s pavilion this Saturday, December 11, from 10AM to 4PM. The Garden is located at 611 SW Kingston Avenue, adjacent to Washington Park.
The original 5.5-acre Japanese Garden was designed by Professor Takuma Tono beginning in 1963, though the garden opened to the public in 1967.
In a study conducted by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, Portland's was ranked first out of 300 public Japanese gardens outside of Japan; it is still considered to be one of the most authentic. A traditional Japanese garden normally takes hundreds of years to evolve and mature, but the Portland Japanese Garden evolved much more quickly, fusing western speed with stately eastern expression. According to traditional design, the Japanese Garden combines three elements which represent the earth: stone represents mountains and islands for strength and support, water is the center and represents purity, and plants grace it with texture, color and growth.
Kuma (or another selected architect) wouldn't be changing the Japanese Garden itself, but the addition of these buildings has the power to transform one of the city's most sacred, inspiring places. And while there are no doubt plenty of local designers who would love to get their hands on the Japanese Garden commission, the city has long experienced a scarcity of project commissions for prestigious out-of-town architects. With Boston's Charles Rose recently unveiled expansion of the Oregon College of Art & Craft campus, a Japanese Garden commission by and for Kuma could make not only another compelling project, but a demonstration that Portland features great design from around the world.
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