The Garden of Visceral Serenity
We enter the garden on a path of stepping stones that cuts through a plane of decomposed granite. Sasaki drew the shapes of the trees that he wanted for his composition before going to the nursery—where happily he found exactly the right examples of Pinus thunbergii (Japanese black pine) and Pinus nigra (Austrian black pine). Especially important is the curve of the fourth tree from the right as we enter the garden. It directs our eyes to the mountains beyond the site. The texture and color of a green Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) contrasts with the rusted metal of the meditation box, which we enter by stooping—in the fashion of a Japanese tea house. The stones leading into the box are particularly important for establishing a serene mood of inevitability that is anything but inevitable. Each element has been carefully chosen for its effect, particularly for its ability to point to or register the ever-changing aspects of nature—shadows, wind, borrowed scenery, and material texture.
Sasaki is one of a small illustrious group of
pioneer landscape architects worldwide who
see garden-making as an art form rather
than simply a functional or ecologically
determined creation.
—Peter Walker, Berkeley, California, 2003