Persian Gardens :-
Marked the beginning of “Modern Garden Architecture”.
•Persian Garden Style evolved after the Egyptian Style of gardening.
•The Persian garden was an answer to the aridity of the local climate where the high walled garden and the shady trees with its air cooled by streams and fountains, was a simple recipe for paradise.
•Pools reflecting the image of the sky and the garden
•The word ‘paradise’ originally is believed to have meant a hunting park in Persian and it is still a Persian word for garden.
•The Persian garden is resolutely formal and is an elaboration of the Egyptian Plan.
•In larger gardens subsidiary canals subdivided the garden..
Formal and Informal Gardens
•The style or Persian gardens can be both formal and informal. The formal gardens are the type found in front of palaces, and are geometric in their layout. Cyrus’ garden, the ChaharBagh, meaning four gardens, consisted of four squares within a square – a quadripartite ground-plan.
•A example of informal gardens are the family baghs found on the outskirts of major Iranian cities such as Tehran.
•The fundamental layout of all Persian architecture is the division of space into four quadrants, a form originating in the Fifth Century B.C. First found in the Parthian constructions of Tchahâr-tagh, linking the square plan of the Zoroastrian temple to the circular form at the base of the cupola via the use of the architectural device known as the pendentive.
•This four-part archetypal element can be found transposed into other fields of artistic expressionas well.
•Small jets of water made sounds such that water was heard and seen.
•Tall Chenar trees shaded the centre while the edge of the garden was lined with cypress, pine, poplar, date palms, almonds, orange and other fruit trees.
•Flowers were sometimes plantedalong the canals or in the long grass under trees. Tulips, iris, primula, narcissus, evening primrose, violets, carnations and jasmine have been mentioned in literature
•A high surrounding wall.
•Straight tile-lined channels of water.
•Bubbling fountains.
•Trees for shade and fruit.
•A Pavilion or gazebo.
•Strong emphasis on flowers in beds and pots.
•The garden offers the passer-by a series of spaces ideally suited to solitary meditation, while pleasing the senses.
• It offers the warmth of the sun and the freshness of its shade, the whispering of breezes in the leaves and the murmur of running water in the channels, the song of birds, the perfume of flowers, the bursts of colour.
•The garden can be easily converted into a place of conviviality when the occasion arises, and can accommodate musicians and dancers.
Shalimar Bagh:
Place for musicians and dancers to perform.
•The paving tiles on every surface and their pattern provided colour in the garden.
•Low hedges line flowerbeds near the gazebo.
•The Moghuls made the grandest of these gardens in the 16th and 17th century in India.
•The Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir shows a similar layout. Shah Jahan built it in 1642. However, these gardens lacked a high compound wall in India.
•Persian Garden Architecture was then followed by Italian and French Garden Architecture…
Mughal gardens
• Built by Mughals According Islamic architecture.
• Influenced by Persian gardens.
• The founder of Mughal empire Babur started building gardens ,hefavouritlycalled CHARBAGH.
• His son didn’t take much interest in gardens. Akbar built few gardens in Delhi.
• But it was Shah Jahan who enhanced the Mughal architecture and floral design.
Symbiotic relationship between the kinetic water and plants, and the static stonework and the rigid plans.
•Formal and symmetrical design.
•Mughal gardens would originally have taken advantage of naturally occurring streams flowing from the mountains, channellingthe water into canals for pleasure and decoration near to the palaces, in geometric quadrants according To Paradise mentioned in Koran, then flowing on down to irrigate crops in adjacent fields.
•The focal point is always an arrangement of canals edged with stone or brick.
•Typically, two water channels cross each other, dividing the garden into four quarters.
•A central pool or pavilion marks the centre of the garden.
•Water is also used in cascades and fountains, and is appreciated for its air-cooling properties.
•Scented flowers, in formal symmetrical beds, were important.
•Trees, such as plane and cypress, emphasise the lines and create a background to rose beds bordering the streams
• On forts and hillsides, elaborate terraces were constructed.
•Paths were usually raised above ground level.
•The overall effect is one of complete calm and delight.
•Numerological and zodiacal significances- number 8 and 9 were considered auspicious.
•Often seen in octagonal pools.
•To replicate paradise on earth, they used running water and a pool to reflect the beautiesof sky and garden.
•Trees of various sorts, some to provide shade merely, and others to produce fruits; flowers, colourful and sweet-smelling.
•Birds to fill the garden with song; the whole cooled by a pleasant breeze.
•The local traditionof white fragrant night flowering plantswas adopted by the Mughals and these were planted near open pavilions and also near residential buildings of the garden.
•The complex is set around a large 300-metre square charbagh or Mughal garden.
•The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds.
•A raised marble water tank at the center of the garden, halfway between the tomb and gateway with a reflecting pool on a north-south axis, reflects the image of the mausoleum.
•Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains
•The TajMahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden.
•The use of symmetry and pattern can be seen in the relationship between sunlight and shade, plants and water, and light and dark tones. The effect is that of a Persian rug leading to the entrance of the mausoleum.
•Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees.
•NishatBagh
is a Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to the Srinagar city.
•‘NishatBagh’is a Hindustani word, which means “Garden of Joy,” “Garden of Gladness” and “Garden of Delight”.
•Even though the layout of NishatBagh was based on the basic conceptual model of the ChaharBagh, it had to be remodelled to fit the topographic and water source conditions at the site chosen in the Kashmir valley.
•A rectangular layout with east-west length of 548 metres and width of 338 metres was adopted.
•NishatBagh as laid out now is a broad cascade of terraces lined with avenues of chinar and cypress trees, which starts from the lakeshore and reaches up to an artificial façade at the hill end.
•Rising from the edge of the Dal Lake, it has 12 terraces representing twelve Zodiacal signs.
•There are, however, some similarities with the Shalimar Bagh, such as the polished stone channel and terraces.
•The source of water supply to the two gardens is the same.
•Built in an east-west direction, the top terrace has the Zenana garden while the lowest terrace is connected to the Dal Lake.
•Water flows down in a cascade from the top to the first terrace at the lake level.
•The water flow from one terrace to the next is over stepped stone ramps that provide the sparkle to the flow.
•At all the terraces fountains with pools are provided, along the water channel.
•At channel crossings, benches are provided for people to sit and enjoy the beauty of the garden and the cascading flows and fountain jets.
The Chinese garden
The Chinese garden, also known as a Chinese classical garden, recreates natural landscapes in miniature.
•The style has evolved for more than three thousand years, and includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and smaller gardens built by scholars, poets, and former government officials.
•The classical Chinese garden is enclosed by a wall and has one or more ponds, a rock garden, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries.
•By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully-composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.
•”Borrowed scenery”
•Concealment and surprise.
•Multiple functionary.
“Even though everything [in the garden] is the work of man, it must appear to have been created by heaven…”
The beginnings
– Ji Cheng, Yuanye, or The Craft of Gardens (1633)
–The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the Yellow River, during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C).
–These gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown.
–There were three types of gardens, namely, you, pu and yuan.
–You was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. Whereas yuan was a garden enclosed in walls and had a pavilion, a pond and trees in it.
–Famous garden: Shaqui, or the Dunes of Sand (most famous features of this garden was the Wine Pool and Meat Forest )
Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD)
•Under the new Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Emperor Wu of Han built a new imperial garden, which combined the features of botanical and zoological gardens, as well as the traditional hunting grounds.
•Notable garden was the Garden of General
•Immense landscape garden with artificial mountains, ravines and forests, filled with rare birds and domesticated wild animals.
Tang Dynasty (618–907), First Golden Age of the Classical Garden
•The Emperor Xuanzong built a magnificent imperial garden, the Garden of the Majestic Clear Lake.
•The new gardens, were inspired by classical legends and poems.
•A notable example was the Jante Valley Garden.
•During the Tang Dynasty, plant cultivation was developed to an advanced level.
Song Dynasty (960–1279)
•The Emperor Huizong of Song (1082–1135), a scholar himself, integrated elements of the scholar garden into his grand imperial garden. His first garden, called The Basin of the Clarity of Gold, was an artificial lake surrounded by terraces and pavilions.
Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368)
• An excellent example was the Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou. It was built in 1342, and took its name from the collection of fantastic and grotesque assemblies of rocks, taken from Lake Tai. Some of them were said to look like the heads of lions.
Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)
•Famous gardens:
– Humble Administrator’s Garden: principle of ‘borrowed view’.
–Lingering garden: tall limestone rocks symbolising mountains.
Qing Dynasty (1644–1912)
•Famous gardens: the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Old Summer Palace eight kilometers north of Beijing.
•Artificial mountains and rock gardens:
–The mountain peak was a symbol of virtue, stability and endurance in the philosophy, of Confucius and in the I Ching.
–During the Qing Dynasty, the Ming rock gardens were considered too artificial and the new mountains were composed of both rocks and earth.
•Water:
–A pond or lake is the central element of a Chinese garden.
– The main buildings are usually placed beside it, and pavilions surround the lake to see it from different points of view.
•Flowers and trees:
–They represent nature in its most vivid form, and contrast with the straight lines of the architecture and the permanence, sharp edges and immobility of the rocks.
–Trees: pine, bamboo, chinese plum, pear, apricot, peach, pomegranate, willow.
–Flowers: orchid, peony, lotus.
•Lobby
–A lobby is where guests are met, feted, invited to marvel at exotic potted plants, or entertained with theatrical performances.
•Corridor
–The corridor comprises the center piece of a garden. It not only serves as a link between buildings, but also partitions up the space.
•Parlour
–This was where the patriarch of a family lived or where family celebrations were held. The parlor is mostly located on the axis of an entire complex, with a well-conceived design and elegant interior decoration.
•Waterside kiosk
–It is used to decorate the shore of a lake or a river, and adds a touch of appeal to the surroundings.
•Bridge
–The bridge is not only a means of transportation but also serves to beautify the environment and incorporating the surrounding scenery into the picture.
•Storied chamber/pavilion
–The storied chamber is a house with more than two floors. It is often used as bedroom or reading room, or simply for marveling at the scenery.
•Pagoda
–The pagoda is a major Buddhist building. In a garden it often appears in the center of the entire layout, and is an element for the creation of new scenery.
•Kiosk
–The kiosk is where one stops to take a rest or enjoy the scene, and forms a scene on its own. Kiosks vary in size and style.
•Wall
–The wall, serving as a screen built of brick, stone or rammed earth, comes in a variety of shapes, such as cloudy walls and flowery walls. Windows are often let into the wall to create shifting scenes of captivating beauty.
•A Chinese garden was not meant to be seen all at once.
•Beautiful disorder and anti-symmetry.
•Everything is in good taste, and well arranged.
•Chinese classical gardens varied greatly in size.
•Surrounded by a wall, usually painted white, which served as a pure backdrop for the flowers and trees.
•A pond of water was usually located in the center.
•Many structures, large and small, were arranged around the pond.
Eastern gardens
•Zoroastrian Heritage by K. E. Eduljee.
•The Persian Garden: Echoes of paradise.
•Gardens of Persia by Penelope Hobhouse.
•Perspectives on Garden Histories by Michel Conan.
•The Mughal Garden: Gateway to paradise by James Dickie.
•The Classical Gardens of Shuzou by ChaoxiongFeng.
•Chinese Gardens by Lou Qingxi.