Gardening Wisdom

Interview with Sadafumi Uchiyama

November 27th, 2007

Excerpted from Blueprints magazine, a publication of the National Building Museum

…We asked landscape architect, Sadafumi Uchiyama, who designed [Blossoms in a River of Sand], to talk with us about Japanese gardens in the world today.

NBM: What is a Japanese garden today?

SU: In Japan, many garden designers today are experimenting with ways of adapting traditional forms to accommodate the contemporary lifestyles. Instead of blindly accepting the traditions of the past, Japanese designers are trying to redefine those traditions and develop new styles and practices. As the Japanese way of life changes, so must the garden. Generally speaking, designers in Japan are taking a less formal approach than in the past, developing innovative ways to strip away the clichéd forms typically associated with a “Japanese” garden—the stone lanterns, water basins, and bamboo fences for example—to see what is left at the core.

Outside Japan, the traditional forms still tend to define the popular image of what constitutes a Japanese garden, although increasing familiarity with Eastern philosophies of Zen, yoga, and Eastern medicine has made people more aware of the spiritual qualities that underlie the Japanese garden. There are now a number of American designers who have been trained in Japan and some of them have begun to redefine what constitutes a Japanese garden in terms of its relationship to the American landscape and lifestyle—a very positive development.

NBM: What are the focal elements of contemporary Japanese gardens?

SU: The creative use of basic natural materials—rock, water and plants—constitutes one element that remains constant with the traditions of the past. A more naturalistic approach to garden design prevails in Japan today, rather than some of the more formal and rigid styles of the past. Another important element is attention to the relationship between interior and exterior spaces—the ongoing conversation between man and nature.

NBM: What role does the Japanese garden play in the world of contemporary Japanese architecture?

SU: Japanese designers are now re-inventing the traditional forms of Japanese gardens for use in roof gardens, wall gardens and other confined urban spaces. Maintaining the close relationship between man and nature is more difficult in modern urban life, so finding new ways to bring “green” to urban environments through creative use of balcony and rooftop spaces is important. Some really innovative work is being done with container gardening, which has great precedence in bonsai cultivation for people who have little space to garden.

NBM: As a traditionally “green” culture, how do Japanese gardens play a role in Japan looking to be “greener”?

SU: The traditional small courtyard gardens (tsubo niwa) of urban townhouses in Japan are great models for bringing the green outdoors inside in contemporary urban settings.

NBM: What concepts do Japanese gardens represent?

SU: The importance of finding tranquility, of appreciation for simplicity (less is more), of taking special care to live in harmony with nature and others—these are important concepts that are manifest in Japanese gardens. The sand-and-stone (karesansui) style of Japanese garden that was born from the Zen Buddhist tradition presents a simplified, abstract space in which to contemplate the greater questions of life. In the case of the garden we built for the Cherry Blossom Festival, the design created on a simple flat expanse of raked gravel represents fallen cherry blossoms floating on the surface of a pond, suggests the concept of the fleeting nature of life itself.

NBM: What is the influence of Japanese aesthetics on contemporary garden design?

SU: Simplicity, naturalness, variety of textures and shapes, and asymmetry in design are all Japanese aesthetic qualities that inform contemporary garden design.

NBM: What is the philosophy of gardening in contemporary Japan?

SU: Rethinking the relationship between inside and outside in contemporary architecture, remaining sensitive to the use of natural materials, and careful attention to details, fine craftsmanship, and careful construction and maintenance are all part of the philosophy of gardening in contemporary Japan.