Ben Galvin Portfolio by PDF Uploads

Contents Framing Testing Synthesis Non-Design Work

FRAMING

Tube Stations Entrance Gates

Primary Circulation Secondary Circulation Landmark Connection

Regent’s Park 1:20000

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS > SOUTH-WEST

31.5M

> NORTH-EAST

12.3M

2.9M

4.8M

CROSS SECTION

Compression

Tention

Structural Context 1. Compression 2. Tention 3. Bending Movement

Two Support Condition for Each Ramp at the Ends One end of the ramp has curved fillet with end support for releasing load from structure to larger surface.

Interlocking Grid

Primary Reinforcement

Three Layers of Reinforcement of Spiral Ramp Primary Reinforcement (parelle to surface): Transfer the load acting on thebstructure Interlocking Grid (thin cross section of concrete) : Avoid huge load/displacement

Key ideas behind design

Balancing the Natural and the Artiﬁcal 1.

Detroit Zoo Penguin Exhibition replicates an Antarctic setting

DESIGN APPROACHES

Instead of recreating the natural habitat of each animal, Lubetkin blend 1) the natural with 2) modern technology and design in order to create the ideal environment for its inhabitants. The 3) viewers experience was also a part of the design features. Their attention was captured by the spectacular setting inside and framed by the cut in the wall, resembling a cinema screen.

The Pond is an abstract Antartctica: 1. white concrete - representing glaciers 2. ramps - a topographical feature resembling the circulation of the penguins natural habitat 3. azure pool floor - hinting about the ocean

“Pool used structural dynamics of concrete to demonstrate ..: nature not as an environment but as a system of geometric and physical order’

‘Lubetkin even left an over-hanging ailanthus tree in place to visually emphasise the Pond’s geometric abstraction’ Functions of the tree Solar protection

Human Experience Sprigs for nests

Shadows and reflections blurring lines between artﬁﬁcial and natural

‘presenting animals “dramatically to the public, in an atmosphere comparable to that of a circus.’ Big rectangles were cut into the concrete surrounding walls reminiscient of cinema screens. The panoramic view and central double helix ramp also provide a stage and viewer impression.

The changes the zoo made Lubetkin’s design was meant for an Antarctic species of penguin which huddle together however the zoo put in South American Humbolts which differ in needs, e.g. they burrow , so the design was not efﬁcient for the certain type of penguins from the start. Concrete paving rather than rubber was put in by the zoo rather than the architects and engineers.

Why was the enclosure emptied?

What is happening with the enclosure tiday ?

In 2004 penguins were taken out of the penguin pool. - the concrete had negative effects on their feet - caused arthritis and bumble-foot. - the pool was too shallow for the penguins to dive and swim - the enclosure enables them to burrow which is a part of their courting ritual.

After the penguins were removed Chinese alligators were kept in the pool but they have now been removed for similar reasons. Plants we kept inside for some time but now the pool stands empty as a water feature and architectural landmark in the zoo.

But with the advancement of our knowledge about the animals it is not surprising that the enclosure is not deemed suitable anymore.

The enclosure was designed for an Antarctic species of penguins and Lubetkin worked with a sepcialist in order to create the ideal environment,

Rumours suggest the building should be renovated and stand as a water feature.

however, the zoo kept South American Humboldt which different need the pool couldn’t satisfy.

PRESENT DAY

“Perhaps it’s time to blow it to smithereens.” What will the pool future be? Lubetkins daughter, Sara said “It was designed as a showcase and playground of captive penguins, and I can’t see that it would be suited to anything else,” she told local reporters. “Perhaps it’s time to blow it to smithereens.” But demolition will be an act of ‘vandalism’ according to restoration architect John Allan. As a grade 1 listed building for it’s iconic reputation in modernist architecture , it can not be demolished. So the Pool has been empty for 16 years now and the London Zoo has no current plans what to do with it.

‘demolition will be an act of ‘vandalism’ according to restoration architect John Allan.’

New habitat for the penguins the penguin beach The new enclosure adopts the common approach of recreating of the natural habitat of the animals. It represents a South American beach landscape complete with sandy nooks, private nesting, a diving pool, and a nursery for baby chicks. The design is more adapted to the penguins needs, providing a larger pool and good clarity water, as well as enabling them to be viewed through underwater viewing panels.

1901

Lubetkin is born in Tbilisi, Russia

1922 1917

1931

Lubetkin leaves for Berlin and Paris in a search for Utopia

October Bolshevik Revolution

Art Historian Wilhelm Worringer

Immigration to London & Tecton Architects

Auguste Perret

1939

Penguin pool 1934

High point apartments

High point apartment II caryatids

“…an achievment of the highest rank.”

Le Corbusier

The War

“After the war Tecton became a ghost of its former self”

“architecture cried out for a new world [...] Nothing is too good for ordinary people”

-Lubetkin Masterplan for Peterlee

-Le Corbusier

-Lubetkin

Finsbury medical center

Lubetkin within History and Technology

1937

DUDLEY ZOO Lubetkin believed that zoos were microcosms of society and thus used basically the same design philosophy in both zoos and residential work. The use of reinforced concrete meant an economic and highly sculptural design. This also means that now, the building is delapidated due to the early and technologically not-so-advanced use of concrete.

FINSBURY HEALTH CENTRE England’s first Modernist public commission looked to turn the contemporary conception of hospitals’ dreariness on its head. Lubetkin’s building itself embodied a message of healthy living, boasting “an entrance hall flooded with light through a wall of glass bricks, clean surfaces and bright colors to produce a cheerful effect.”

1949

1938

SPA GREEN ESTATE After WWII, Britain’s focus changed to housing a generation of veterans and workers who had all been rendered homeless by the bombing of cities by the Nazis. Tecton had submitted the original design for working class flats in London in 1935, and used the drawings 15 years later to alleviate the housing shortage. He made some changes such as the use of a Garchey system for waste disposal (used in England once before), and an aerofoil-shaped section of the roof to improve the drying of clothes outdoors.

BEVIN COURT While the reduction of costs for social housing meant that Bevin Court was quite modest, and not disruptive to its surroundings, a spectacular and constructivist feature is the stairs inside the building. Lubetkin’s background in Russian constructivism, combined with the power of reinforced concrete construction and baroque geometry result in a staircase that lives up to Lubetkin’s own statement: “A staircase is a dance”.

1958

1954

HALLFIELD ESTATE By 1958, post-war mass housing had left a sour taste in most Briton’s mouths. Its’ association with the bland and ugly, the brutal and the grey, creates a backlash in Lubetkin’s newest estate. Its playful black and white exteriors and brickwork facades were and important step in the late-50s in showing the new potential of social housing.

One coral reef restoration technique involves using glass bottles in floral arrangements that encourage coral to latch on and begin repopulating. While all of these restoration techniques are slow and monotonous, the long term benefits of these installations is ginormous to the ecosystem thats trying to survive.

Another common restoration technique is sinking damaged ships or machines into the ocean in order for coral to latch on and become the heart of a new reef. One example saw a sculptor design a large steel framed squid to aid with the coral restoration.

Arguably the cheapest and most practical is concrete. Sometimes mixed with human ash, concrete is an incredible aid to coral and has proven to be one of the most effective restorers to a reef. This is something that can be compressed into a workshop environment, where people create their own installations and watch them be implemented into the aquariums. This then led me to decide to create an aquarium with the focus of coral reef restoration, and a focus on educating young people and the general public of how accessable many of these techniques can be.

PRECEDENT In the initial stages of research one precedent that made an impact on me was the Californian acadamy of sciences, which housed a large atrium and planetarium in separate bubble structures within the building. These elements i was keen to try and implement into my design, however the planetarium ended up being abandoned and the atrium was developed to a point where it was unrecognizable in the final design. however, certain elements such as the underwater tunnel became inspiration for different aquarium designs in the final project as well as the decision to build most of the aquarium underground, as it does not have need for sunlight.

Materiality

In studying materiality, i decided for the main element of the building to be bare concrete. to symbolise how concrete is used in coral reef restoration. One precedent that particularly inspired me in this period of the year was a concept from instagram, where the massing comprised of individual concrete blocks that undulated as if they were part of a larger wave. I found this design particularly interesting as i imagined the facade could be incorperated into the exhibits, and visitors could see coral growing on the facade within the aquariums. Another reason i wanted to use this style was because the way the blocks moved up and down it created spaces between that could have been momentary courtyards, or was at least something that could be developed. However I struggled heavily trying to incorperate this concept successfully into a design, as the concept is much more complicated to execute competantly than intiailly expected. Despite this failed experiment, the desire to use concrete as the main material in my building was decided early on.

For interior materiality my initial thought was to use timber to counter the coldness of the concrete, as well as using unconventional forms to symbolise the ocean or coral reef formations. while the unconventional forms was explored later in the design process, the concept ultimately clashed with the route i wanted to take in the design process, as i began to favour more grandeur than complexity, i desired for the viewing windows to span from ceiling to floor, and if the interior wooden facade was in a wave form it would take away from the grandeur of the large spaces and large aquarium windows.

Initial ideas

Due to aquariums requiring less natural light than your average building, i instead decided to focus on the experience i wanted the visitors to have when visitng, and then use those ideas to inform the layout and massing of the building. My initial intepreatation of experimental preservation was quite radical, in the sense that i wanted to adapt the penguin pool into a vertical aquarium that would use the concrete within the pool to grow coral, linking the function of the penguin pool to create a modernist interpreation of an animals natural habitat and the techniques involved in coral reef restoration.

My original site was the field directly north of the penguin pool, as i was struggling to find a way to effectively work in the area immeditately surrounding the pool and noticed space nearby was underutilised by the zoo. It also didn't impede any zoo paths, wheras the penguin pool is sited in the middle of a zoo pathway. My initial idea was to split the building into three separate masses, linked by a couryard in the middle where all three would house different coral reef restoration techniques. i also intended on using the block facade that was mentioned previously, however the desired outcome was not satisfactory.

Initial massing

The initial massing did not turn out as i hoped. I learned that in order to use the block facade. the mass of the building needed to be follwing the same grid reference the blocks were, and that the facade did not have the same desired outcome if the form was organic. Due to the difficulties in the site, it was going to be difficult to design with right angles and boxes, so it was decided that this facade idea would not be brought further forward. The massing linked to above the penguin pool, where it was thought a floor window could be used to view the penguin pool aquarium below. This concept however was not looked on favourably by my tutors, but it did not affect my overall design as it was not an element i was invested in. It was decided that the next semester i would start fresh with a new design and concept.

Site access routes diagram

BREMER LANDESBANK: BALANCING FUNCTION AND RENNOVATION

Bremer Landesbank is a building complex located in Bremen that was doubled in size by an ambitious extension project completed in 2017. The building hold staff parking, multiple cafes, a restauraunt, a bank (the main motivation for the extension) as well as numerous small scale law firms and government offices. Despite numerous similarities with the porthouse, as both are responsible for juggling multiple functions in snyc, the organisation of these functions within the new construction and old is noticably different. For example, in the porthouse it decided to rennovate upwards, instead of situating the extension next to the existing building like in Bremen. This is probably due to the preexisting building in the porthouse housing the fire department, as it would compromise the efficiency of the firefighters to act quickly if they have to work around other professions. the Landesbank however overlaps these functions in close proximity, opting for efficiently using space instead of trying to create separate areas for separate functions. Another reason for the difference in placement of the new extensions is aesthetics. With Bremen having a long history of brickwork and uniform 19th century tenaments, it makes sense to attempt to blend the new extension into its surrounding area as much as possible, as planning permission would not permit anything too eccentric to be placed in such a historically and architecturally delicate site. the only similarities in layout with both buildings is the decision to rennovate their courtyards, as well as the choice to add parking underground to increase the ammount of space available for more important functions.

Rennovation

Original

Rennovation

Above: Antwerp Porthouse rennovation meeting existing building Right: Bremer Landesbank rennovation meeting existing building Exploded diagram of extensions fixture on existing structure, Porthouse

underground parking public restaraunt public cafe hallway and vert. mvmnt

Left: sectional function of space diagram, Bremer Landesbank

Name: Ben Galvin

BREMER LANDESBANK: FACADE AND MATERIAL ANALYSIS

Both buildings approached their facade and choice of materials from different perspectives. On one hand, Caruso St John Architects hoped to blend the Landesbank into its surroundings, utilising traditional brickwork techniques commonly found in Bremen with a contemporary flare to ensure it didn’t stand out, while still being aesthetically beautiful. On the other hand, Zaha hadid went a different route, instead using boat imagry and the open sea as inspiration for its final massing and facade. Choosing to imitate the function of the porthouse through boat imagry is isnpired, and the decision to use reflective blue glass for the main extension to the building allowed it to stand out and blend in at the same time, depending on what time of day, the facade is either striking against the sky, mimicking the waves of the ocean its reflecting or blending into the blue sky on clear days.

Exploded diagram of facade and building structure, Bremer Landesbank

Elevation of belly of renovations facade, Porthouse

Name: Ben Galvin

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM: BLENDING FUNCTION AND CIRUCULATION Exterior of Royal Ontario Museum

Toilets

The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of art, world culture and national history. It is the largest in Canada since its rennovation in 2007.

Toilets stairs

Despite the controversial reception to the rennovation, the way the extension utilised different functions within the building was incredibly non linear. Using walkways suspended over hallways instead of separate hallways, the building feels like all galleries and functions overlap, creating a seamless transition from space to space. Its also noticable that the extenstion uses very few circulation routes and hallways, instead opting to lay out the plan in a way that envokes curiosity and a sense of discovery. This is perfectly represented by the first floor of the extension, using no hallways and having multiple functions in one space, the experience of the building is much less linear and conventional, instead gently suggesting where to go.

stairs Gift Shop

Elevator

stairs

Cloakroom

Ground floor diagram Of Royal Ontario Museum

Main Entrance

Ontario Museum interior

Contrasted with the circulation routes of the museum, the porthouse seems unusually conventional. Opting for circulation to be separate inn massing compared to the other functions. This binary approach is unlike the unconventional exterior, but allows these circulation routes to not increase the massing of the extension, instead using space within the legs holding the extension up for stairs, corridors and elevators.

Function of space and circulation Diagram, Porthouse

Name: Ben Galvin

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM: BLENDING FUNCTION AND CIRUCULATION

Another aspect of the museum that differs from the porthouse is how it manages space and connectivity. Throughout the building,there are mezzanines, underpasses, walkways and views connecting spaces together. This allows the building to feel more organic, more in common with a cave system or a playground set, inviting visitors to explore and experience the building in whichever way they choose. The lack of segregation in these spaces also allows visitors to figure out their placement in the building, noticing areas they have or have not visited through gaps in walls or views from walkways to ensure the visitor can find their way to new or visited places without the need for signage. However, in the case of the Porthouse, due to it not being a museum or gallery the focus of the circulation is not to encourage exploration but to provide efficient and easily predictable circulation throughout the building as not to impede on the functions of the building (offices). This means that the user knows that the circulation route is consistent and can deduce where to go or where they are going with relative ease.

Fire Exit

Toilets

Fire Exit Fire Exit

Fire Exit

Stairs Elevator

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

EUROPE: STYLE EVOLUTION

EGYPT

MIDDLE EAST

Fire Exit Stairs Elevator Elevator

Fire Exit

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS EUROPE: THEMES Elevator AND COLLECTIONS

Fire Exit

First floor diagram of Royal Ontario Museum

SOUTH ASIA

Stairs

AFRICA, AMERICAS AND ASIA-PACIFIC

Porthouse circulation interior

Name: Ben Galvin

TESTING

At this point in the design process i was still struggling with my building placement and layout, primarily due to the lack of need for south facing light in the majority of the building. This led me to focus instead on the exterior massing to gain a different inspiration.

After exploring different massing styles and different layouts i decided to combine all ideas in different ways. utilising both angular and curved forms to dictate the building programme. i placed the cold water reef area in the north as it would require the least light and focused the hot water reef area as a large atrium communal area in the south of the building.

Interior facade exploration

Further development

i decided to move the penguin pool as i struggled to find a way to implement the building to the penguin pool from its location. I also was not as delicate on my interpretation of experimental preservation at this time so i planned to house the pool in the main building as a vertical aquarium, similar in concept to my initial idea from Framing.

New location of Penguin Pool

Original location of Penguin Pool

Preserved as shark reef aquarium

Cold Water Reef Area

Warm Water Reef Area

Research lab (Cold Water Reef )

Theatre Reception, Cafe Area

Atrium

Research lab (Hot Water Reef )

Researchers accomodation

Hot Water Coral Reef

After the testing review, it was made clear that the tutors were not approving of the decision to move the penguin pool to a different location within the zoo. One reason being it is a logistical nightmare, and may even be impossible construction wise to not destroy the building while attempting to unearth it from the original site. The second reason was that the design of the penguin pool is so site specific (the elipsis shape allowing for it to be housed on a path while allowing people to walk round it), citing elements such as the tree that partners the penguin pool. To remove the pool from its initial space would rob it of its importance, and in this reealisation i decided to reform my approach of experimental preservation. Instead of repurposing the penguin pool for another function linked to the ideals of Lubetkin, i instead made the decision to build my building with the penguin pool as the sole heart of the buildng, in a physical and metaphorical sense. the building would mimic the same charactaristics both programmatically and aesthetically that the penguin pool posseses, while also maintaining the spirit of spectactle and education that the penguin pool also promted.

Due to the penguin pool being sited in the centre of a public path, it was decied that the building should be untouched within a courtyard, to ensure the routes through the site were still possible and to maintain the integrity of the original site. A decision was also made to house the main aquarium public area in the south of the site, due to that having the most south light access, however to ensure the courtyard gets enough sunlight was something that needed to be developed. it is imperitive that the south half of the building does not impede the courtyards access to sunlight, nor should the courtyard be too claustrophobic. This design issue led to the aquarium area being sunekn by a floor to allow the roof height to be low enough to allow sunlight into the courtyard.

Due to the difficulties of keeping the courtyard naturally lit, the ceiling design needed to be developed to ensure the building was not casting a shadow on the penguin pool and the communal courtyard. These massings were created to explore this issue and attempt to find a solution. These massing models were also experiments in building form, and were vital in deciding to go curved instead of angular in the design. This decision was made mainly because of the curved nature of the penguin pool, surrounding it with a building that does not match the design language and charactaristics of the pool would not be aesthetically pleasing nor conceptually consistent. The decision was then made to offset all dimensions and building layout in proportion to the penguin pool, in an attempt to have as much harmony between the existing structure and the new buildings aesthetics.

in an attempt to shrink the size of the building, i decided to introduce a curved plan to ensure the building was efficient with the space used, as the initial massing ideas were large in scale and were not using that scale efficiently. Changing the mass was an exercise in improving the efficiency of the building layout as well as creating a more natural circulation to the building that otherwise would not be present with an angular design. I also began conceptualising how i wanted to present the aquariums to the visitor, opting for high ceiling with ceiling to floor viewing panels to immerse the visitor into the coral reef exhibits. At this stage, i was still experimenting with modifying the penguin pool in different ways to present the aquariums, but these ideas were not practical structurally nor did the tutors aggree it was a sensible decision to modify the pool. This then led me to want to present the aquariums in such a way that the penguin pool still felt present, which led me to be interested in designing an aquarium underneath the pool with a central gallery that matched the dimensions of the pool to ensure its influence was still felt within the design.

To ensure the mass of the angled roof was consistent. the north lab area of the building also had angled roofs implemented to ensure the mass would be continuous throughout the building. as if the entire building was made of 3 homogenous masses instead of different elements being designed independently. the angled roof also allows for the roof to overhand and to allow for shading from the south facing light.

The roof angle was initially proposed to allow as much light as possible into the main couryard, as the building completely surrounds the courtyard theres a risk the courtyard could become shaded and unwelcoming. This also helps with drainage, as all the water collected will be directed to the same area of the building (courtyard) and can be gathered with ease.

Rough section used for develping the dimensions of the spaces and angles of the ceiling

The penguin pool was designed with the intention for it to be a spectacle, observable from every angle to be experienced with full immsersion not disimmilar to theatres and sports stadiums. With the concept of drama and spectacle being key to the design of the penguin pool, and since i made the decision to base the bullding on the dimensions of the pool, it was decided that the overall mass of the building should also resemble these ideals. the use of a central spectacle are important within the aquariums design, with not only the central courtyard housing the Penguin Pool, but also the underground viewing gallery, in the centre of the underground areas of the building. The decision for angular roofs also influenced the decision to use amptheatres and stadiums as conceptual inspiration, as the roof mimicks the spectators seats at the colluseum, viewing the pool.

Walkway

Staff Room

Lab Staff Acommodation

Labs

Initial Ground Floor Plans

Private Labs

First Floor (Overhead)

Courtyard

Penguin Pool Reception

Private Labs Courtyard Pond

Public Toilets Gift Shop Cafe/ Viewing area Ground Floor Plans

Private Labs

Private Labs Aquarium Entrance room

Aquarium Viewing Platform

Japanese-Inspired Viewing Platform

Main Aquarium

-1 Floor Plans

Private Labs

Central viewing area

Aquarium Pods

Aquarium Maintenance Area

South Aquarium Viewing Area

-2 Floor Plans

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Foundation to wall detail: Drainage mat Rigid insulation (.1m) Waterproof membrane Reinforced concrete wall (.5m) Steel brackets (20x20mm) Timber paneling (40mm) Floor build up: Reinforced concrete footing (1m) Gravel perimeter drainage layer Vapour retarder/insulation (.1m)

Foundation to wall detail

Floor acrylic detail

LABS HALL PENGUIN POOL

VIEWING GALLERY

AQUARIUM

VIEWING GALLERY

LABS

AQUARIUM

VIEWING GALLERY

AQUARIUM

DOME

LABS

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Floor Acrylic Window detail: R-Cast Acrylic (.5m) waterproofing membrane (5mm) Sealant (30mm each side) Concrete base must have 35mm cavity on both sides to allow for sealant and membrane

After the technical review, my building was criticied for its lack of structural consistency throughout the different floors, which meant a complete rethink of the basement layers was necessary to ensure the buildings structural integrity. To achieve this, the building floors remained similar in dimension and outline, in order for the reinforced concrete walls to go from foundation to roof without breaks. This ensures the building structure is secure and can withstand the task of underpinning the penguin pool, as well as the unconventional loads full aquarium tanks put under the structure. initially, the main walls were .5m thick, but to ensure the structural soundness of the building the decision was made to increase the thickness to .7m. The basement layout was also significantly updated, mimicking the outline of the floors above it to ensure structural rigidity as well as refining the ambition of the initial design. The central two aquariums were joined with now only one entrance, and the perimeter area was removed in favour of using the spaces underneath the north labs instead. The overall massing of the building was also refined, decreasing the size of the south aquarium and increasing the footprint of the viewing areas. This modification also allowed for more space on floors above for cafe, educational workshop and gift shop space, as well as improving the overall efficiency of the building layout.

The placement of the staircases and fire escapes was also developed, instead choosing to house them outside the main structure of the building. This was done to improve the fire safety of the building, as the fire escapes are separate from the rest of the building as well as allowing more to exist without decreasing the ammount space available within the main building. Elevators were also introduced, and conjoined with the stairs now allowed for a direct exit out of the basement floors, wheras previously visitors would have to return the way the came, which improves the circulation and efficiency of the building programme. A staff elevator was also implemented in the north of the building to replace the ramps initially used to move heavy equipment between floors. Using an elevator uses less space and is faster and safer for the staff members. PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

ENERGY CONSUMPTION The roof has been designed in such a way that it has continuous sunlight throughought the year, allowing for the aquarium to be powered by solar panel energy almost exclusively through all seasons. Due to the high energy consumption required to maintain public aquariums, this still would not be sufficient to make the building fully energy independent, however all ameanities such as the cafes, toilets, underfloor heating, and the apartments can all run of solely solar energy

The design of the roof is such that any rainfall can be caught efficiently without flooding the courtyard. By having two levels of roof, it allows for rainwater to be caught in drainage to be stored for ameanities such as tapwater in the toilets, staff rooms, accomodation, as well as the cafe. The water can also be utilised in the aquariums, however in order for the water to be suitable for the exhibits it must be treated and filtered to ensure the ecosystems are not contaminated or harmed by foreign elements. All rainwater is stored in an below ground tank and can be used on demand.

FINAL PLANS

Labs

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

apartments

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Warehouse/loading bay area Lab technitians offices

Staff changing rooms/toilets

Staff room

Reception

Labs

Public Toilets Gift shop Cafe

North aquarium access

Central aquarium access walkways (feeding cleaning etc)

East and south east Aquarium access Basement aquarium entrance

Educational workshop

Public Aquarium viewing area

Central viewing area

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Aquarium Maintenance Area

Exit

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

STRUCTURE The primary structure of the aquarium is reinforced concrete walls (.7m thick). This material was used as it is the most common materail used to hold aquariums as it is less prone to leaking or damage over the long term. Reinforced concrete is also able to wthstand the significant loads the water is putting them under, and due to the fish inside swimming within the water it is also able to withstand the forces their swimming puts upon the walls.

Reinforced concrete structure

A single concrete pillar supports the cantalevered first floor, while also being discreet, giving the illusion the first floor is floating above the water. Despite concrete usually being percieved as a heavy and dense material, the use of the underpass gives the first floor a percieved lightness and delicatness that is not seen in any other part of the building

First floor pillar structure

The structure is also so thick to ensure the structural rigidity of the underpinning of the penguin pool, which is supported by four pillars supporting the perimeter of the pool while a reinforced concrete wall surrounds the foundations. to ensure the rigidity of the pillars, they are also supported bt the walkway connecting to the pillars that connect to the outer courtyard wall, to spread the load of the pool evenly throughout multiple structures in the building.

Pillar structure underpinning

BUILDING FACADE The facade comprises of triangular concrete pillars with vertical timber panels doubling as shading from direct sunlight. The Materiality is unfinished reinforced concrete, inspired by brutalist buildings in the zoo such as he elephant house, the use of reinforced concrete in the penguin pool, as well as referencing to concrete's use as a tool for coral reef restoration. The timber paneling will be taken from the trees required to clear the site, in an attempt to decrease the ammount of waste during the construction. The timber was also inspired by Lubetkin's use of timber in his apartment buildings, specifically his highpoint building complex, where the use of light timber in the interiors broke up the potential monotony of painted concrete and gives the interior spaces more warmth and lightness in contrast to the unfriendly and rough concrete surrounding it. The facade was directly inspired by an extension completed by Living Concrete on a Wimbeldon house. The desired outcome was for the angled pillars to emphasise the mass of the concrete, as the walls are .7m thick this element of the buildings massing is much more pronounced.

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

The Pillars are also used to lower the cost of the glass required for the courtyard, as curved glass is considerably more expensive the decision was made to try and manage the cost of this element of the building.

A functional use of the timber cladding is it provides shading for the few above ground laboratories, as direct south sunlight is glaring and difficult to work through. This is why the decision was made to have the cladding on the first floor be horizontal, to break up this direct sunlight before it becomes an inconvenience. As the rest of the first floor is not directly south facing, the panels return to vertical.

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

INTERIOR SPACES-MATERIALITY

Interior materiality remains consistent with the exterior, however the floor is now wood instead of the panelling. this is to ensure the spaces remain light and airy to counter the unwelcoming bare concrete. the use of brighter materials in the interior will also lighten the space during times of direct sunlight. This was why the decision was made to not go foreward with polished concrete floor, where it would have matched the reinforced concrete in aesthetic it would transform the public aquarium into an unwelcoming and serious space, which is not suitable for young visitors or families. The decision was also made to have the ground floor open up to the -1 floor because it allowed for a much larger multi purpose communal space, instead of rigidly locking these spaces with walls, to allow them to interact in the same space allows for a parent to sit in the cafe while their children are observing downstairs with full vision of them and confidence they are safe. The space is also open to provide easy access from the cafe gift shop area to the educational workshop, so if parents want to wait in the cafe, or view the aquarium while their child is in the class with full confidence of their safety and place in the building.

Yatsuhashi(zig-zag) bridge, Cowden Garden

One unique element of this part of the building is the unconventional bridge to nowehre viewing platform, which was inspired by the garden i did my dissertation on, where Cowden Garden housed a japanese Yatsuhashi bridge, which is designed for loitering and observing the water, instead of the usual function of a bridge being practical and functional. In japanese gardens, there are also bridges that end halfway , designed for viewing the water instead of being a functional bridge. This aspect of the garden inspired me heavily, and a version of it is experimented with in the original design to the aquarium.

Ground floor cafe mezzanine and -1 floor viewing gallery

As it was in the upper floors, the flooring in the lowest floor is also light timber, to warm an otherwise low light space of the building. The aquariums act as windows and lighting, but this alone is not enough to make the level welcoming so the inclusion of this material choice is vital to maintain the friendly nature the building has cultivated.

Central viewing gallery simple render (-2 floor)

BUILDING PROGRAMME

The lowest floor is entirely open plan, with exception to the aquarium maintenance room that is not available to the public. This allows for a freedom for the visitor to explore in any order they so desire. the roof height is also double height, which gives this floor a feeling of scale and drama that is not present in the viewing area upstairs. In the north of the floor there is an unique aquarium design, that is two smaller aquariums that join with an overhead channel, which gives a desired outcome of an aquarium tunnel (see rendered section, page 98-99), immersing the visitor within the aquarium exhibit. In the central viewing gallery, the viewer is presented with a near 360 degree panorama of aquarium life, and this conjoined with the double height ceiling gives a sense of grandeur.

Aquarium feeding, filtration and regulation area Vertical movement

-2 floor programme diagram

Public viewing areas Aquariums

The first basement floor is considerably more complex than the rest of the levels, as both functions of the building are present in a large way. in the north, east and centre the lab staff have top access to the aquariums in the floor below, for various reasons from feeding, to cleaning to installation of new coral reef restoration techniques. In the south of the building there is the educational workshop and the viewing top down viewing gallery.

Aquarium maintenance area Vertical movement Public viewing areas Aquariums Education workshop

-1 floor programme diagram

The ground floor is the secons smalled floor, due to half of it opening out to the lower basement floor. Despite this, it is the most efficient in its use of space. The northern part of the building houses multiple functions, including the changing rooms and toilets for the aquarium staff, as well as an office space for the lab workers. This element of the building never overlaps with the public area, as i concluded early in the process that the research involved in coral reef restoration and research was not theatrical enough nor easily comprehensable to the average person,, so instead the focus moved to the public viewing the work of the lab workers instead of viewing them specifically. The reception is placed on the east side as it is the best median between all access routes to the site, from the west, north east and east. Careful consieration was made to ensure all entrances are obvious and not confusing to a newcomer to the building. An example of this is ensuring the west entrance is theatrical enough and welcoming enough in its landscaping that it is clearly an entrance to the building, as well as the north east and east entrances being designed to ensure there was no confusion as to whether it was a public entrance or not. All lab workers and staff members will acess the building through the stairwells instead, splitting the circulation of the building into two.

Private laboratory Vertical movement Staff Room, changing rooms and staff toilets Public toilets Gift shop Cafe Laboratory loading bay/warehouse space

Ground floor programme diagram

Reception

Despite its complex design and massing, the first floor is the simplest in terms of layout, It is exclusively for the lab workers, housing two one bedroom flats as well as two labs on separate sides of the floor to allow easy access to both sides of the building from this point in the building.

Private laboratory spaces Vertical movement

First floor programme diagram

Accommodation for 2 lab workers

Ground floor plans in context

1:100 section

West entrance rendered

North east reception entrance rendered

East reception entrance rendred

East Elevation, 1:200

West Elevation, 1:200

South Elevation, 1:200

Rendered 1:100 section in context

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ARC3014 PROFESSI ONAL PRACTICE AND MANAGEM 2424 words including bibliography/figures list 180260827

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Part 1: Project Information The objective of this project is to create a public aquarium and research facility that aids in tackling environmental issues and educating the public on said problems. The building must also be dedicated and architecturally inspired by Berthold Lubetkin’s innovative Penguin Pool zoo exhibit, as well as integrating said building into the new design, experimentally preserving historically relevant architecture in the process. The client for this project is Regents Park Zoo, who have a desire to breath new light into their brand by dedicating all future installations to the preventation of climate change, hopefully attracting new visitors. This design decides to focus on coral reef restoration, dedicating the research facilities to discovering new techniques of reef restoration, working closely with other institutions across the globe to try and fight the pollution that is being caused to our coral reefs. This design will also look to involve the public in this restoration process as much as possible, hoping to introduce children and parents to creating coral reef restoration art pieces by using concrete, recycled glass bottles and steel frame to create structures for the coral to latch onto and begin the rebuilding process. The public will then be able to see their pieces of coral structure be implemented into the aquarium’s coral reefs by divers, involving them in an exceptionally immersive experience. The site is located at the south west border of the zoo, bordering Regents Park and is currently an underutilised area of the zoo. Building on the same location as the penguin pool, however this will cause issues with vehicular access and supply, as the site does not have direct road access, instead will have to create supply chains through the zoo. Multiple structures will be removed for the construction, including an old stable for llamas and a café. The café will be implemented into the new building, and the llama exhibit will be relocated north west of the site to an unused plot of grass. The penguin pool will be situated in a central courtyard, with the aquariums following the curves of the pools massing. The layout and massing of the building is directly inspired by the dimensions and motifs of the penguin pool and pays homage in several locations across the building. For example, the aquariums underneath the penguin pool will aesthetically refer to the pool’s presence with a translucent roof light giving the impression of the water in the penguin pool above being shone down into the exhibit.

Figure 1 site access paths with location of penguin pool

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Figure 2 Initial floor plans

Part 2: Brief Proposals 2.1 Procurement Strategy Due to the high complexity of the structure and the brief by the clients, the building will utilise two stage tendering as a contractor will be required before RIBA stage 4 so the client can get an early approximation of costs as well as advising the architectural practice through the complexity of the project. This will also minimize time required for the design process as the architect and contractor will be on site from an earlier point and can highlight potential issues within the proposed design or issues relating to the site. It also gives the opportunity to complete initial jobs such as demolishing pre-existing structures and clearing the site of trees and flora. An example of this is cutting down a portion of the trees bordering the zoo and regents park, allowing for an opening for the main southern view from the building to not obstruct the view of regent’s park. Other site-specific issues such as limited vehicular access and temporarily reorganising internal zoo pedestrian paths around the site can also be achieved by the first contractor. By having a contractor introduced into the process this early, it allows for preliminary works to be completed during the design process, instead of increasing the timeline for the main construction. The contractor will be chosen by the client during RIBA stage 2 under a ‘pre-construction services agreement’, and will act as a consultant to the design process. This can be used as an opportunity for the contractor to develop methods of construction, highlight potential hurdles and deficiencies and aid in obtaining work package prices from sub-contractors. Once a design has been somewhat finalised, a second contractor will be chosen for the construction (or if the first contractor bids

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successfully, they may also inherit this role). All financial discussions will be held with the client, who is in consistent contact with both architects and contractors. 2.2 Other Consultants Structural Engineer- Structural engineers have experience with soil conditions and building foundations, which will be necessary from an early stage in the design process to assess the foundations of the penguin pool and provide parameters to work around these foundations. Due to the building proposing to build underneath the pre-existing penguin pool and its foundations, it is crucial that all can be learned of the buildings foundations to ensure the proposed design by the architects is safe and possible. As well as the penguin pool, the structural engineer will also ensure the correct levels of foundations is used to ensure the safety of the building. Due to the immense weight of aquariums, it is not uncommon for foundations to be reinforced or increased in thickness to deal with the weight, as well as ensuring these foundations correlate with the areas of the building that do not require as much foundational support (such as labs, communal areas etc). A structural engineer will also be required to ensure the correct wall thickness to not only withstand the forces of the aquariums water but to also ensure structural rigidity of the building, as it will be using reinforced concrete as the main structural technique. Elements such as the roof span will also need to be reviewed by the structural engineer to ensure the ceiling does not need additional support from pillars other visible structural elements. Public Aquarium Consultant- Due to the unique challenges of public aquarium construction, it is crucial a public aquarium construction company is contacted early in the process to ensure all designs proposed by the architects are feasible, as well as to educate the architects on potential problems, and how to prevent or amend such problems. They can also consult on the conventional materials used in aquarium construction, such as acrylic, to ensure the architects understand the properties of these unconventional materials and how to effectively implement them. They will also be required to advice the building services engineer of the specifications required to ensure the aquariums have adequate filtration systems as well as ensuring the best placement of the ‘life support rooms’ (housing filtration, feeding, salt content systems) for maximum functionality. 2.3 Keeping to Budget A cost consultant will be appointed by the client to manage the project finance. Chosen during RIBA stage 1, the cost consultant will work closely with all consultants (including architects) to ensure the building being designed is within the project budget (which they will have helped estimate). Examples of this can be evaluating options for building type and size, to minimise the possibility of financially unrealistic designs. During stage 2 the cost consultant will provide preliminary cost goals in cost per m2 based on similar buildings, their cost and their size in m2. For stage the 3, the cost goals will be updated to keep up to date with the design process, with the cost being reviewed in stage 4 to allow the second stage tender negotiations begin. Other strategies to ensure the budget is maintained include requiring the architects to provide additional solutions to expensive design decisions, such as proposing cheaper cladding materials or offering cheaper solutions to aesthetic elements of the building. However, these measures would only be necessary if the construction price increases past the initial estimated number, however budgets increasing due to unforeseen circumstances is not uncommon in building construction, so these additional solutions are still necessary to provide cheaper alternatives if needed. 2.4 Planning Considerations

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Regents park is a Grade I listed national park, signifying it is a park that due to its historic layout, features and architectural ornaments make it of national and international importance. For Regents park, it is listed primarily on account of its surviving picturesque design by John Nash and the various buildings within the park by Decimus Burton. The Zoo layout is exempt from this listing but must remain within the confines laid by John Nash in his original design for the park. However, the penguin pool is a Grade I listed building, so measures will need to be taken to ensure the pool will not be damaged during the construction process, despite being in the heart of the construction. To achieve this, the pool will be avoided wherever possible in the construction process, instead working around the pool. When it comes to constructing the basement levels below the pool, temporary pillars and scaffolding will be erected underneath the penguin pool’s foundations, suspending the structure to allow for the foundations and structure underneath the pool to be completed. 2.5 CDM regulations The CDM Regulations 2015 state that the architect must: • • • •

Inform the client, Regents Park Zoo, of their duties under CDM 2015 before any design work begins, as well as supplying pre-construction information. Eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks and when a risk cannot be eliminated, reduce said risk as much as possible. Provide consistent design information to the client and principal contractor and ensure they fulfil their duties, such as construction planning being prepared. Ensure all parties carry out necessary health and safety measures during the development and after completion.

The proposed building is situated within the zoo and cuts directly through a main pedestrian pathway. To ensure there is no confusion with public visitors of the zoo accidentally entering the construction site, this pathway will be closed off and traffic will be redirected around the site using temporary signage and gravel paths. 2.6 Office Procedures As this will be the practices’ first project, the entire company will be involved. A team of six will be hired to work on the design and will not be required to work from the office (situated in Newcastle) due to the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Once these restrictions are lifted, the staff will have the option to work either remotely or in house, due to changing standards of work in a post-Covid world. The office will contain a meeting space, which will host meetings with clients and contractors in person, which can also be attended via zoom. To achieve this, the room will need to be fitted with adequate internet connection, Monitors showing the staff from zoom as well as a camera (or cameras) pointed at the physical meeting to allow the remote staff to see the other members of the meeting. The office will also need sufficient space for social distancing, with at least 2.5m between each member of the meeting. At the office, an office manual will be created to and updated regularly to guide staff alongside the RIBA plan of work. It will include guidance and British standards for drawings to ensure quality control and will also house templates for drawings to ensure all documents from the practice are clear and in uniform. All documentation will be stored electronically and physically in a cohesive filing system that all members of staff must respect, to ensure no confusion or loss of documents.

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Part 3: Implications of Proposal 3.1 Implications to Client, Users and Wider Society Due to its achievement as an architectural landmark, the new aquarium would repurpose a previously underutilised area of the zoo. By taking inspiration from the penguin pool, the building represents the cutting edge design the zoo has supported in the past, as well as their dedication to sustainability and fighting global warming. In this century climate concerns are of high concern, and to dedicate an entire facility to the education and research of sustainable solutions to coral reef pollution is a statement of intent and a physical representation of the organization’s ethics. The unconventional design language of the proposed building combined with a dedication to pushing reinforced concrete structure to the limit of its capabilities will attract new visitors that may have previously never considered visiting the zoo. The users will experience a unique immersive aquarium educational experience with ceiling to floor acrylic viewing windows into the aquariums, utilising curved walls and high double height ceilings to create a sense of awe while viewing the exhibits. The educational facilities will help inform future and past generations on the dangers of plastic use and its damage to the earths oceans as well as the ingenious cheap solutions discovered for restoring reefs. By spreading this message and pushing to engineer new solutions to reef restoration, the benefits to wider society can only be positive. This institution has the opportunity to be a major player in the goal to restore the coral reefs before it is too late. If this building has any influence on the presentation of our coral reefs being destroyed, the benefits of it to wider society will be immeasurable as it is directly contributing to the sustainability of our planet. 3.2 Implications to Reputation of Architects and Wider Construction Industry The building is an experiment in experimental preservation, with the building incorporating Berthold Lubetkin’s innovative penguin pool design and using it as the genesis for all design inspiration and building programme. This will positively demonstrate the architectural practices’ abilities as a high quality and bold firm that pushes the brief to the limit of its capabilities in hope it could achieve something more profound than its competitors in the design competition. It will also demonstrate how the firm is able to respect the heritage and importance of architectural works from the past and shows the firm can take sensible inspiration from these works to inform their future design concepts. The aquariums will be the biggest coral reef exhibits in the world by quite a margin, with the architects working closely with aquarium technology consultants to push modern aquarium and acrylic technology to its limit, achieving high quality and immersive results. This can also be used for marketing, as having designed the largest aquariums in the world in such unconventional curved forms will only positively reinforce the practice’s reputation within the industry.

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Bibliography Figure 1 site access paths with location of penguin pool ....................................................................... 2 Figure 2 Initial floor plans ....................................................................................................................... 2 https://www.architecture.com/-/media/GatherContent/Test-resources-page/AdditionalDocuments/2020RIBAPlanofWorktemplatepdf.pdf https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Two-stage_tender https://www.royalparks.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/41769/2015-The-Regents-Park-AndPrimrose-Hill-Conservation-Management-Plan.pdf https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l153.pdf https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/penguin-pool-at-the-london-zoo/ https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/penguin-poollondon-zoo-regents-park-london-drawings-and-construction-photographs/posterid/RIBA12642.html https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/ http://www.clear-reef.com/design-design-and-engineering.php http://www.aquadec.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Dossier_Aquadec_en.pdf http://www.materialsperformance.com/articles/material-selection-design/2015/11/corrosion-inpublic-aquariums https://www.reynoldspolymer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Acrylic-in-Modern-AquariumExhibits.pdf https://poolglass.ru/princupu-proektirovaniya-smotrovuh-okon-i-illuminatorov-vbasseyne/?lang=en http://www.cnad-material.com/pic_view.php?SortID=8&ID=83 https://www.advanced-aquariums.com/acrylic/acrylic-tunnels/

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3015 For my design project, my group is focusing on building upon buildings, and exploring methods of experimental preservation for existing structures. The structure in question is the penguin pool in London Zoo, by architect Berthold Lubetkin. Designed to resemble the shape of a penguin egg, the project was supposed to symbolise Lubetkin’s desire for a utopian socialist society, where humanity had reconciled its relationship with primordial nature. The design was inspired by 1930’s animal psychology of “behaviourism”, believing that all animal behaviour was a result of their external environment, which challenged the suitability of previously designed animal exhibits. While in the decades post construction it became apparent it also was inadequate for the animal inhabitants, the initial intent of the design to be accommodating and suitable is still commended as an important early attempt. Our group’s aim is to create a building for the zoo designed with the spirit of Lubetkin, and the design of the penguin pool in mind. The goal is for our building to embody the philosophies and political perspectives that influenced the design of the pool, and to build upon these philosophies and update them for a modern world. The building must also incorporate the existing structure in some way, preserving the structure and what is represents, although this is an area of the design with a wide variety of interpretation. Upon receiving the brief, I had a desire to develop his philosophies, instead of mimicking them. This decision was made due to many of the design aspects of the penguin pool being inadequate for the penguins, leading to their removal in 2004. For example, the concrete walls and floor surrounding the penguins meant they were drastically overheating in the summer, as well as the concrete causing arthritis and bumble-foot. The pond was also designed for Antarctic penguins, who huddle for warmth, but upon reveal the zoo put in South American Humbolts which burrow as part of their courting ritual. This meant from the beginning the pool did not provide a suitable environment. However, Lubetkin’s focus on “behaviourism” is now commonplace in enclosure designs, with modern enclosures seeking to replicate the animal’s natural environment. Therefore, to try and achieve a suitable environment in a modernist style would not only be inadequate for the animals, but outdated in the context of modern society, which looks unfavourably upon inadequate zoo enclosures. The enclosures must prioritise the wellbeing of the inhabitants over the architectural and political ideas informing the rest of the building. The need for adequate enclosures as well as the projects focus on preservation led me to want to create a coral reef aquarium, that specialises in educating about coral reef restoration and preservation techniques to rebuild was pollution has destroyed. This focus on the building is informed by the penguin pools desire to be environmentally compatible with the species living within it, as the coral reef is the environment of millions of species in the ocean, and with those ecosystems being damaged these species are unable to survive, hence the desire to focus on rebuilding these environments and ecosystems. It also provides an opportunity for humanity to reconcile its relationship with nature, which Lubetkin hoped his socialist utopian ideals would address. This topic provided a unique opportunity for the pool’s preservation. For coral reef restoration, one of the best materials used is concrete, in which the coral can latch on to begin the rebuilding process. This provides an opportunity for the penguin pool to be repurposed as an aquarium, utilising the concrete structure to aid the growth of coral. It is also possible the entirety of the pool could be submerged into an aquarium, which would explore the idea of using desolate structures in the ocean to aid restoration, instead of demolishing and creating waste. This interpretation of experimental preservation is very suitable for the subject matter, as this way Lubetkin’s desire of creating a suitable habitat in the style of modernism is finally achieved, though not in the way he initially achieved. While the modernist interpretation of natural habitat was unsuitable for the penguins, the building is finally able to achieve this goal by being perfectly suited for coral reef restoration.

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Other materials can also be suitable for reef restoration, including shipwrecks, metal framework, glass bottles and shipping containers. Glass bottles will be used in an educational way, with workshops implemented to allow children and school visits to build their own bottle collage to be placed in the aquariums. Other elements such a metal framework can be used for more ambitious exhibits, with examples of it being used as a material to create large scale sculptures (such as a giant squid engulfing a shipwreck) that are dropped in the ocean to rebuild reefs. This gives opportunities for the materiality of the building to be connected to the restoration techniques, using elements such as concrete as the main exterior material of the building. This led to me finding precedents unrelated to aquariums or modernism, but for experimental uses of concrete, attempting to find a cladding style that could refer to the concrete used in the restoration process. One precedent that was incredibly influential in my design process was a concept building where the façade was made up of concrete cubes that ascended and descended to create an organic form mimicking ocean waves and coral reefs. This cladding was chosen for the building because it could be used directly in the aquariums, as concrete blocks are known as the most efficient material for reef restoration, as well as the opportunity it provides to imitate coral reef imagery and form in the exterior using the blocks as a motif. The concrete blocks also allow for the building to honour Lubtekins approach to architectures relationship with nature. In the penguin pool a cut-out in the building for a pre-existing tree allowed the tree to continue its place in the site. This shows Lubetkin wants “no antagonism between architecture and its natural setting”, instead of nature or mankind dominating one another, Lubetkin chose to delicately place his buildings in such a way that they did not interfere with the nature surrounding it. This is an aspect of the pool I was hopeful to replicate, and the concrete blocks also allow for this to be the case. Due to London Zoo being situated in Regents Park, the surrounding nature in the zoo cannot be ignored, and to upend this flora would not be in the spirit of the penguin pool and its approach to nature. The concrete blocks therefore allow a canvas on which nature can paint on, with the deliberate intention of nature overgrowing the façade, leading to a building that is welcoming of overgrowing flora on the exterior and being in constant dialogue with the ecosystem surrounding it. Upon analysing the access routes to the penguin pool, what became apparent was that the building had nearly zero influence on people’s circulation around the building. This was achieved by rotating the oval shaped structure like a sort of round-about, allowing people to walk round the structure without affecting their route through the site. Due to its placement inside the main pathway of the zoo instead of next to the pathways, it was crucial that the structure did not negatively affect people’s mobility, which it successfully accomplished. To replicate this within my own building I focused on the sites access routes in more detail than I would have previously done, to ensure my building did not impede people’s movement round it if it could be avoided. This led to me using the empty quadrant northwest of the pool as my main site, as it was primarily disused and was not being effectively utilised, as well as providing the most efficient access routes to the building. Due to the pathways of the zoo, the building was surrounded by potential access routes, so the process of finding the least intrusive design to these access routes has been quite challenging. The building entrance would have to accommodate for multiple access points, meaning it was difficult designing forms that allowed maximum access while also being large enough to be a properly functional building. Other elements of the penguin pond, such as the massing form, typography of the sign, narrow long windows, and the ramps will all be implemented into the design in some form or another. One suggested output for the ramps is to create a corkscrew style circular ramp, instead of a main staircase that harkens back to the ramps in the pool. Other elements like lighting fixtures, sculptures or

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ornamentation could also reference this. The reception will feature motifs referencing to the pool, such as a curved shape and modernist styling.

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Shãh-Rak-Uen: Retaining Authenticity in Translation

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Shãh-Rak-Uen: Retaining Authenticity in Translation

Question: Is Cowden Garden an authentic example of Japanese garden design, and how does it retain this authenticity within another culture/country (Scotland)?

Benjamin Galvin 180260827 ARC3060 3

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Acknowledgements

COVID-19 Research Adaptation Account

Abstract

Introduction

8-10

Chapter 1: About Ella Christie

Chapter 2: Taki Handa, and The First Garden

12-24

Chapter 2: Jijo Suzuki, and Further Garden Development

25-32

Chapter 3: The Rebirth: The Restoration Process

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Conclusion

List of Figures

Bibliography

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Acknowledgements I would firstly like to thank my initial tutor, Juliet Odgers, for her infectious enthusiasm for my topic, as well as the invaluable information I learned from her during the proposal process. I would also like to thank my current tutor Martin Beattie for his input, knowledge and encouragements which guided me through this dissertation. I would like to thank Sara Stewart of Cowden Garden for allowing me to interview her on the restoration process and her family’s incredible history, as well as offering a private tour of the garden. Hopefully after Covid-19, I will be able to take advantage of such an opportunity. I would also like to thank her nephew, Rory Stewart, for helping me get in contact with her so quickly. Finally, I would like to thank Jill Raggett for sending me her academic papers which were not available online, your expertise in this field was invaluable for my dissertation and the conclusion of my question.

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COVID-19 Research Adaptation Account Unfortunately, Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns had severe impact on my ability to complete this essay. Due to libraries closing nationwide, I could not access the invaluable source of the Stewart-Christie Archive in the National Library of Scotland, containing letters, journals, legal papers, and personal information. Due to the lack of academic papers written on my topic, the archives were possibly the single best opportunity I had to access knowledge not available online, but unfortunately, I was unable to access this source. This closure of the libraries also made it very difficult to gain access to both volume VII and VIII of Britain and Japan: Biographical portraits that were vital to my dissertation’s success, having to contact the author herself to send the relevant chapters. It also affected my ability to visit the garden for a second time in the Christmas break to take additional photographs of stone placements and planting configurations, as well as additional images I had not captured on the first visit. This has a fairly large impact on the dissertation as I commonly have no visual source to back up my descriptions of an element of the garden. It also affected my ability to have a private tour of the garden during the Christmas break offered by the owner Sara Stewart, which I unfortunately had to turn down due to the rise in coronavirus cases.

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Abstract This dissertation will evaluate the authenticity of Cowden Gardens’ design, and whether its foreign setting damages or enhances this authenticity. It will first cover Ella Christie, and her motivations for creating the garden, as well as analysing the gardens design and composition under the lens of Josiah Conder’s teachings in his book Landscape Gardening in Japan (1893), the world authority for Japanese Garden design at the time for English speakers. It will first cover the Original garden by Taki Handa in 1908, the subsequent modifications and corrections by Ella Christie and Jijo Suzuki from 1910-1949, and its vandalism and subsequent restoration process.

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Hidden In the overgrown corner of a once immaculate estate lies Ella Christie’s (1861-1949) magnum opus, ‘Shã-raku-en’ (the place of pleasure and delight). Inspired by her tour of Japan in 1907, Christie sought to craft a uniquely authentic Japanese garden on a piece of unused marshland in the corner of her property Cowden, Scotland. In 1907, during her month-long trip to Japan, Scottish traveller Ella Christie had an idea to create a Japanese garden at her home in Cowden, Scotland. What came of this was the creation of one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in Britain at the time, the result of painstaking attention to detail and dedication to authenticity. By hiring female Japanese garden designer Taki Handa to oversee the design and construction and Japanese gardeners to maintain it, Ella ensured the authenticity of her garden, as well as its historic significance as the only Japanese garden of the scale to be designed by a woman. Hidden underneath the Ochils 2.5 km from Dollar, the 2.5-acre Japanese garden is one of the most authentic gardens of this era in Britain that survived the 20th century. With Japanese gardens being a trend from the late Victorian era to the first world war, partially caused by the publication of Josiah Conder’s Landscape Gardening in Japan (1893), which translated Japanese gardening philosophy to English for the first time in history. However authentic examples like The Node (Hertfordshire), Trewince Japanese Garden and Cowden are few from this era, with most Japanese gardens in Britain at the time being simply western gardens with a Torii (red arches) and a few stone lanterns1. Few went to the lengths Christie went to in the pursuit of authenticity, which gave it the reputation of being “the most important Japanese Garden in the Western World”2. Despite being a Scottish traveller from a wealthy land-owning family with a coal and iron foundry empire, her passion for the authentic cultural experience bled into her work on her garden, which she hoped would live up to the gardens she visited on her travels. From the very beginning, there was an emphasis the importance of Japanese natives’ involvement in the garden. From the female Japanese garden designer Taki Handa to daily maintainer Shinzaburo Matsuo, Christie hired Japanese natives at any given opportunity to maintain the gardens legitimacy. This high standard of maintenance outlived Christie, who died in 1949 from leukaemia. However, after being heavily vandalised by teenagers in 1963, the garden fell into disuse. Without the funding needed to restore, the garden remained unkept until 2008, when the garden was inherited by Sara Stewart, Ella’s great-great-niece. Under the leadership of Professor Masao Fukuhara (Osaka University of Arts) the garden was restored, with the aim to return the garden to its former glory. With a successful fundraising campaign as well as state funding from the local council, work on restoring the garden began in 2011 and was finally open to the public on 2nd July 2019. While the garden is officially open, the restoration is still yet to be completed. This paper hopes to uncover the nature of this garden’s legitimacy as a truly authentic Japanese garden, and whether a Japanese Garden can retain authenticity when situated into a foreign environment. The initial designs from 1908-1963 and the restored garden will both be scrutinized. To uncover this, the design and composition will be scrutinized under the lens of Josiah Conder’s3 (Raggett, 2006) (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers) 3 28 September 1852-21 June 1920, Josiah Conder was a British architect hired by the Meiji Japanese Government to become the architect of Japan’s Public Works. During his time in Japan, Conder developed a keen interest in Japanese arts and managed to get an education on painting, as well as garden design and 1 2

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Landscape Gardening in Japan, because it was the highest authority on Japanese Garden design for western readers such as Christie, who owned a copy.

Figure 1: Graph showing Japanese gardens created in Britain by decade (Raggett, 2006: 8)

floral arrangement. These educations drove him to write books on his learnings to be easily interpreted by a western audience, Hence ‘Landscape Gardening in Japan’. The influence of this book on Victorian gardening culture was immense.

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Figure 2: Ella Christie portrait, 1909 (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 3: Ella in her garden (Stewart,2018)

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180260827 About Ella Christie

Ella Christie was born 21 April 1861, into a wealthy Scottish mine owning family, who lived in Cowden Castle, Dollar. A traveller by profession, Christie was a formidable character whose achievements included being the first western lady to travel between Samarkand and Khiva4 as well as the first western lady to meet the Dalai Lama. However, upon her father’s death on 19th August 1902, Ella embarked on a travelling spree, landing in Bombay India on January 2th 19045 travelling to Tubet, Kashmir, Malyaya and Borneo6.The most influential trip she went on was her time in Japan in 1907. This trip was the first recording of her playing with the idea of a Japanese garden at Cowden. Upon arriving, Ella ran into the Du Cane sisters, where she formed a strong bond with Ella Du Cane who was visiting to paint for her book on Japanese gardens and the two bonded over common interests. On the 6th of May Ella attended a walking tour round Mount Fuji with Ella Du Cane, which made a seismic impression on her. In a letter to her sister on 7th May 1907 Ella wrote: “the path was a mere track through a tangle of shrubbery, quite lovely in variety. We passed camphor trees, the largest thing in timber I have ever seen, deutzias, camellias, hydrangeas, tiny roses, and bamboos.”7. Christie “left Japan with deep regret, missing the irises at Tokio by a week”8. This shows that she was using this trip as an opportunity to explore and educate herself on the nuances of Japanese gardening, to educate herself and evaluate whether this goal of a Scottish Japanese garden was doable. She was passionate Japanese culture remaining authentic that she was absolutely dismayed by the “process of Europeanising” she was experiencing in Japan and declared in a letter to her sister that “I daily long to see the old Japan”9, showing her desire for a completely authentic Japanese experience. It is then safe to conclude Ella’s intentions with the garden were for it to be an expression of her love for the orient and gardening, marrying both passions of gardening and nature with her love for exploring. It was at Christie’s insistence to use Japanese natives in her garden, despite being met with doubts from Josiah Conder (whom she had met with in Tokyo to discuss how to realise this garden into physical form) claiming that Tokyo gardeners ‘lack both organization and acquaintance with matters of foreign export’ and was particularly concerned by the lack of reliable interpreters available in Japan at the time. However, Ella was determined to use only Japanese natives (worrying for the authenticity of her gardens design and creation), Conder finally conceded and advised her to apply to the Yokohama nursing company, where she would find ‘English speaking experts acquainted will all branches of gardening who will if asked, I think, supply you with suitable Japanese designs for gardens as well as advising you upon selections of trees, shrubs, stones, lanterns, etc.’10. This meant Ella now had a reliable exporter of Japanese garden products from stonework to trees and shrubbery, allowing for her to create as authentic of a garden that the Cowden site would allow.

(Christie, King-Stewart, 1940) (Stewart, 1955) 6 (Stewart, 2018) 7 (Stewart, 1955) 8 (Stewart, 1955) 9 (Tachibana, 2004) 10 Josiah Conder to Ella Christie 9 May 1907, Stewart Christie Papers, Acc 5058, National Library of Scotland. 4 5

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180260827 Taki Handa, and The First Garden

On returning home from her travels, Ella Christie began scouting the location for her garden within the Cowden Estate. Her focus turned to the north east of the estate, where a flat area of marshland met by gradual slopes in the north and north-east. A burn ran from west to east, splitting the site down the middle. At the top of the northern slopes was a belt of evergreen trees that hugged the estate border, giving the site well needed shelter from northern winds11. Above the northern treeline, The Ochil Hills can be viewed towering over the site, adding to the scenery of the site. The southern view from the site was a collection of open fields within the estate, giving the garden a peaceful view without compromising privacy. The choice of location for the garden shows how Ella was carefully following Japanese convention through Josiah Conder’s “Landscape Gardening in Japan”, which she annotated extensively12, because it complies entirely with Conder’s recommendation of “An open view to the south or south-east is a great natural advantage, as is also an elevated wooded bank or a grove of high trees to the north or west.”13. This attention to detail in the initial stages of design shows how Ella was attempting to create something genuinely authentic, as this level of detail is difficult to find from most private Japanese gardens at the time14. After deciding on the location of the garden, Christie’s focus turned to installing “drains” to prevent her newly imported plants from Japan being overwhelmed by the snow melting, which would flood the marshy site in its natural form. The capacity for the site to flood in the spring was well known to Christie, when there was either heavy rainfall or snow melting the burn would flood the flat ground of the site, which meant if Ella Christie wanted to use this site for her new garden, certain modifications to the site would need to be made. To achieve this, a “strictly utilitarian ditch”15 was dug where the burn flowed through the site to accommodate a pond. Christie stated the reason for this was “the impetuous and headstrong streams, rising almost without warning” 16. She had a dam constructed on the far east of the site, filling the pond that would be the centrepiece for the garden17. Drainage is an important aspect in making a Japanese garden, with Josiah Conder stating drainage must be considered before and above all creative decisions and emphasised that the outlet for this drainage must “be at a point far removed from the ornamental areas”18. This would make Cowden compliant, as the eastern dam outlet is as far as possible from the garden, with the hidden drains in the garden leading into the pond. In the east, a pier and boathouse were constructed, yet were not intended for the garden and were not utilised in the garden’s design. In the west, trees were cut down to allow the Ochils to be seen easier from within the garden19, a technique recommended by Conder where “a neighbouring view may be skilfully taken advantage of, the

(Christie-Stewart, 1955) (Raggett, 2013) 13 (Conder, 1893: 129) 14 At the time it was standard for private British Japanese gardens to be merely British gardens with the addition of a stone lantern or a Torii gate, and were not authentically Japanese other than the addition of those ornaments (Raggett, 2006: 6). “The disposition of a few typical ornaments, of a bronze stork here and a stone lantern there, does not make a Japanese garden, it only makes an English garden speak with a Japanese accent.” (Weaver, 1915:277) 15 (Christie, King-Stewart, 1940: 234) 16 (Christie, King-Stewart, 1940: 234) 17 (Stewart, 1955: 211) 18 (Conder, 1893: 105, 129) 19 (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 11 12

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Figure 5: Map of Cowden Estate (Tachibana, 2004)

Figure 4: Photo by Handa of her view when designing (Nakanome:c1948)

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garden being so arranged that it appears, when regarded from the foreground, as a part of the general composition”20. After completing the initial site maintenance, a garden designer was needed. This may have proven difficult as there were not many garden designers in Britain at the time21. Luckily, Christie had made contacts on her travels. While visiting Kyoto Ella became acquainted with Miss Mary Florence Denton (1857-1947), a charismatic American missionary who taught at Doshisha Women’s College in Kyoto from 1888, until her death22. She was an important fund raiser for the College and often hosted wealthy foreign visitors at her house in the college grounds, where she would have encountered Ella Christie. It was her who recommended Ella to seek a young, Christian Japanese woman named Taki Handa (1871-1976) upon returning to Britain. A former student of Miss Denton in Kyoto, Taki had been close to Denton, who helped her decide to learn abroad at Studley College, Warwickshire from 190608. As well as being trained in garden design, she had an extensive education in horticulture and botany23. This as well as her extensive experience working in Japanese gardens and knowledge of their culture meant she was an inspired choice for designer of the garden. Christie managed to write to Handa from Cowden while she was studying at Studley College, requesting her. Handa also received a letter from Denton in Japan reiterating Christie’s request. On 28th January 1908, Taki Handa travelled north to Dollar, Scotland (2.5km away from Cowden Estate) to meet with Christie. During her few days at Cowden, Handa consulted Christie about her desires for the proposed garden, including requirements such as the desire for a central island in the pond and a space dedicated to her walks around Mount Fuji. It is also probable that she was shown Christie’s annotated copy of Conder’s “Landscape Gardening in Japan” to endorse her creative instincts. Taki also visited the two-and-a-half acres of site and described sketching out a plan for the garden from the vantage point of the north-west slopes overlooking the pond24. She recalls having a view of the entire site, pond, existing boathouse, and pier making “a drawing of the entire view and working from this”25 to design the garden. It is possible that Handa used the boathouse as a reference point for the boundary of the garden, as the eastern half of the garden and pond on the right of the boathouse was never implemented into the design. Handa could only stay for a few days before having to return from Scotland to prepare for her second year Horticultural Certificate exam. However, on 22nd April 1908 Handa returned to Cowden, probably during her Easter college holidays. Paid a pound a day for her work26, and for the first three days reexamined the site in conjunction with her design sketches27. Referring to her plans, she divided the garden into a hill garden (Tsukiyama-niwa) section and a flat garden (Hira-niwa) section28. She decided to utilise the north and north-west slopes to accommodate the hill garden, with the flat garden in the south and south-west, with both sections divided by the stream flowing into the pond. This way, Ella was able to combine her desire to have an area dedicated to the nature of Mount Fuji (hill garden section) without compromising Christie’s desire for creative diversity within the garden. The flat garden section would be a more spiritual part of the garden for individual

(Conder, 1893: 129) (Raggett, 2011) 22 (Tachibana, 2004) 23 (Raggett, 2013: 9) 24 (Raggett, 2013: 11) 25 (Nakanome, c.1948) 26 (Nakanome, c.1948:95) 27 (Raggett, 2013:13) 28 (Raggett, 2013: 11) 20 21

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Figure 7: Portrait of Taki Handa (Stewart, 2018)

C F D

Figure 6: Garden map displaying locations of photographs (Momiji, 2021)

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introspection, whereas the hill garden would be more focused on hospitality and entertainment, as hill gardens always emphasise guest-hosting as one of their main functions29. This visit, Christie hired three local labourers to aid Handa. However, she mentions the difficulties in instructing the workers the ‘correct’ way to establish the shape of these slopes, having to smoothen the edges herself into a curved Japanese style, due to the workers lack of experience with such subtle landscaping. She wrote that the workers had cut embankments ‘like pillars with square corners’, but sympathised with them, as it was ‘understandable as they had never seen a Japanese garden in Japan before’30. Overall, her relationship with these Scottish workers was a positive one, with them showing curiosity and admiration for how she was able to manipulate the landscape in such a subtle way, stating “the Scottish workers worked very hard for me and showed great interest in what I did and admired the way I changed the landscape”31.Regarding Handa’s perfectionism, Christie recalled that “an absolute sense of proportion was observed from the very beginning”32. One task Handa instructed the workers on was the construction of Ella’s desired island (known as the outlying isle), where Handa instructed them to “dig a ditch along the lake and use the soil to create an island hill (tsukiyama) in the lake”33. At least one bridge was then constructed to allow access to the new isle, as well as a newly moulded lake embankment reinforced by natural stone edging34. The next major undertaking would be the northern slopes of the pond, where Christie wished to have a “living soul”35. With the help of the Scottish workers, Handa began moulding a range of grass covered artificial hills, traversed by stepping-stones and gravel paths. This area was moulded to replicate the scenery Christie witnessed on her walk around Mount Fuji with the Du Cane sisters, utilising one of the most important techniques in Japanese gardening: Shakkei (borrowed landscape). This is a technique in which the designer takes inspiration from a natural scene, yet is deterred from copying too literally, with Conder stating “The designer is repeatedly warned against attempting to follow too closely in his work the details of a real landscape, a habit leading invariably to false and un-satisfactory results”36. Handa made sure to follow this and was not literal in her depiction. Once this was completed, Handa began organising the stone placements throughout the garden, with Christie observing that “No broken or misshapen stone was made use of, no water-worn stone showed its face in the mountain scenery, and in the same manner no mountain stone was used near water. The larger stones were kept to the foreground, the smaller ones farther back, thus a natural distant perspective was achieved in a narrow space.”37. Here Handa is using the technique “Distance-lowering Style” (saki-sagari) that was pioneered by the garden designer Sen no Rikyū38 (1522-1591) who would opt to place larger objects (trees, stones flora) in the foreground and smaller objects in the background of smaller gardens to exaggerate the sense of scale39. This means she is abiding by the conventions of the hill garden if the garden is small, trying to maximise the potential of the site. Another ingenious

(Conder, 1893: 132) (Nakanome, 1948: 93) 31 (Nakanome, 1948: 93) 32 (Christie, King-Stewart, 1940: 235) 33 (Tachibana, 2004: 13) 34 (Raggett, 2013: 14) 35 (Christie, King-Stewart, 1940) 36 (Conder, 1893: 84,85) 37 (Christie, King-Stewart, 1940: 235) 38 An important historical figure during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603), Rikyū was an influential figure on the tea ceremony, where he pioneered the w abi-cha ceremony that emphasised simplicity and spirituality. 39 (Conder, 1893: 131,132) 29 30

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Figure 9: Image of Outlying Isle (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 8: Slopes of Mount Fuji (A) (Stewart, 2018)

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use of stone by Handa was the large ishi-doro (stone lantern) she constructed using old mill stones found on site40. This is a very creative use of elements surrounding the garden, uncommonly personal and intimate for a Japanese garden in Britain, and a clear sign of Taki Handa’s impressive creativity. While it could be argued its inclusion hurts the authenticity of the garden due to a Japanese ornament being assembled out of Scottish machine parts, Conder believes unwanted gems from the site “should be retained and reinforced by additional stones harmonising with them in character and arrange them as to unite them to the general landscape.”41. If a Japanese garden is meant to utilise its site for the maximum result, but this garden is in a foreign landscape, embracing the Scottish side of the garden enforces the authenticity of the garden, it does not damage it. The garden cannot pretend it is Japan, it must respond to its context instead of ignoring it. Despite the impressive progress made during her three-week break, Handa returned to Studley, vowing to return once her education was complete. In August 1908 Handa continued to work on the garden, but there is little written about the progress made during this visit. It is highly probable that this was the visit in which the master’s isle, guest’s isle and lagoon was constructed to complete the hill garden due to their admission from Handa’s recount of her second visit. These isles are a crucial component of the hill garden, as these components of the hill gardens accommodate the hospitable side of the garden due to them commonly being within the grounds of a large building (temple or palace). Following the conventions of hill gardens, the isles were situated in the foreground of the landscape on the north-west embankment of the pond, signifying they are a place of high importance42. On the west of the isles a lagoon was formed, with a picturesque stepping-stone arrangement formed within it, giving access to the isles. A peninsula protects the lagoon from the larger pond, as well as the current of the stream opening that lies next to the lagoon. The construction and layout of this lagoon follows Conder’s instructions, as he recommends the master’s and guest’s isles must be accessible “by a picturesque combination of stepping-stones” as well as using a peninsula to connect the isles to the mainland43. Handa also followed the list of ceremonial stones required for these isles, with the master’s isle housing the masters stone(yosoku-seki- stone for the master to sit upon), the stone of easy rest(ankio-seki- similar in function to the masters stone) and the stone of amusement(yukio-seki- a suitable prominence for angling) and the guest isle hosting the guesthonouring stone(kiakuhai-seki- a resting place for a visitor), the shoe-removing stone(ridatsu-sekiwhere clogs and sandals are removed) and the seagull resting stone (oshuki-seki- for seagulls to perch upon)44. Other stones of significance within the hill garden include the moon shadow stone (getsu-in– seki, north-west top of the slopes, to view the moonrise, paired with a flat stone to sit45), the cave stone (teito-seki, north-west, paired with kwannon stone) and the kwannon stone (kwannon-seki, north-west, symbolises Kwannon, a deity worshipped on mountain heights, often represented as seated by a cave). In 1955, Robert Christie-Stewart(nephew of Ella) wrote that “the general arrangement of the stones laid out by Taki Handa remain unaltered”46 which would give reason to assume the garden in its restored form will also have the arrangement be identical, because the site remained untouched after its destruction in 1963, so when the remains of the garden were restored these stones would have remained in place, except for more water based details like lanterns which were thrown into the pond by the vandals. (Nakanome, c.1948: 94) (Conder, 1893: 130) 42 (Conder, 1893: 101) 43 (Conder, 1893: 101) 44 (Conder, 1893: 101) 45 (Conder, 1893: 140) 46 (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 40 41

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Figure 11: (B) Mill stone lantern designed by Taki Handa (original mill stone broken next to replacement) (Galvin, 2020)

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Figure 13: (D) Teahouse, isles, and the Fuji Slopes (Galvin, 2020)

Figure 12: Lagoon stepping-stones and Master's Isle

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To complete the flat garden section of the garden, Handa decided to create a dry garden (karensansui) where sand is used to symbolise a body of water, with isles rising from the sand. While there is little photographical evidence of this area of the garden existing, the existence of this part of the garden was confirmed by Robert Christie-Stewart (who experienced the original garden) to his daughter Sara Stewart who later confirmed during an interview its existence in the original garden47. Handa decided to place it at the south-west point of the garden, near the hill garden with the stream separating them. A path of stepping-stones trickled its way through the shrubbery, flowing past the second Kasuga stone lantern48(dated 1823) that was bought in Kyoto by Christie and leading to a small arched bridge crossing the stream. Due to the fact that flat gardens do not utilise mounds or hills the remains of this part of the garden told the restorers very little about its general geography, other than the placement of symbolic stones and stepping-stones that remained. This means that the modern interpretation of the dry garden is more a highly educated guess than a picture-perfect replication because there was little to no photographic or literary evidence of its composition. The final element of the flat garden was the addition of a teahouse on the western bank of the garden, overlooking the length of the lake. This is a structure usually reserved for the master’s isle but is situated separately for multiple reasons. Firstly, because teahouses should only be on the master’s isle if it is “overlooking the water of the surrounding lake”49 and secondly because the southern half is more favoured to house principal dwelling due to the north being “the coldest and most cheerless quarter”50. These two requirements are not possible from the position of the master’s isle, which is in the north half of the garden, as well as not offering the best view of the lake. Therefore, the decision to move the teahouse from where it conventionally is positioned shows an astonishingly deep understanding of Japanese garden design for someone who has never designed a garden before. It is details like this that would have been recognised by Suzuki when he declared the gardens importance and authenticity. The task of planting and organising was the final task Handa completed in full. The flat garden hosted many of the garden’s greatest plants and nature, some of which being Korean pine trees, several species of thuya, Japanese maple trees, Napoleon willow, rhododendrons, azaleas, and laburnum. In the hill garden (slopes of mount fuji) it hosts most of the specimen that grow in traditional countryside (rhododendrons, heather, Korean dwarf pine trees, scots pine) as well as most white petaled flora in the garden, to replicate the snow-covered wilderness that Christie experienced51. This is an aspect of the garden that could be argued as inauthentic, as it is impossible to completely replicate Japanese nature, soil, and climate to make the flora of the garden completely authentically Japanese. However, by using non-Japanese flora similar results can be found, one example of this problem solving is the replacement of the traditionally Japanese plant wisteria with laburnum. Due to the plant being unable to grow in Scottish soil52, laburnum was planted in its absence as it is similar in aesthetic to wisteria, albeit with the petals being yellow instead of purple. Another example of this is the Napoleon willow, which is substituting for the Chinese native weeping willow. Robert Christie-Stewart also commented on this dilemma, declaring that “The shrubs and trees in the garden were, wherever possible, selected

(Stewart, 2020) See figure 14 49 (Conder, 1893: 102) 50 (Conder, 1893: 129) 51 (Stewart, 2020) 52 (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 47 48

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and planted to typify the ideal Japanese Garden; but owing to limitation in plant growth and soil conditions a true representation was not entirely possible, although the general impression of colour

Figure 14: ( E ) Only surviving image of original flat garden (south of garden) (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 15: (F) West side of the flat garden, next to the stream (Stewart, 2018)

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and species is correct”53. The blending of different species of plant from different geographical locations shows an inherent desire to authentically replicate, which I believe is more commendable than not attempting at all. During this visit is the time Taki Handa named the garden “Shah-rak-uen” (the place of pleasure and delight). The name was carved into the entrance gate of the garden (in the south-east), a structure made of locally sourced timber constructed according to Japanese convention. The gate is thought to have been constructed soon after Handa’s work was completed, although a specific date of completion is unknown. The final design element Handa concluded before leaving was the position of the snow-viewing lantern (ishi-doro) on the south bank of the pond but was unable to complete this task before being called back to Japan by her family in October 190854. With the garden being “almost 80 percent finished”55, Handa left Christie with detailed directions on the positioning of the lantern56 (which had not arrived from Nippon57). What Handa did in Cowden proved not only satisfactory but popular, as Handa supposedly declined an offer to make a “Japanese Garden” for a friend of Christies58. Jill Raggett (professor in gardens and designed landscapes at Writtle College University and world authority on British Japanese gardens of this period59) wrote “Possibly, if she had stayed in Britain, she would have been able to further her career as professional garden designer and would have joined the ranks of other designers such as Eida Suburo, Suzuki Jijo and Kusumoto Seyemon”60. Even after returning Japan, Handa received a letter from “a garden designer of Nagoya”61(Jijo Suzuki) commending her “perfect design for a Japanese Garden”62. Handa, embarrassed that her work had been examined by a garden designer, admitted that she did not see herself as such and confessed to following her sensibilities than official techniques63. Although, viewing her work, I argue she is doing herself a disservice. If the duty of a Japanese garden designer is to listen to client requirements, maximise site potential and use the tools and labour force available effectively, then she is not only a garden designer, but a garden designer of high ability. Her experience within western culture and her fluency in English meant there was no miscommunication, which proved vital to reinterpreting Japanese gardening techniques to a foreign workforce. Her gender was ground-breaking, as she is still the only female Japanese gardener to oversee such a large project, due to women traditionally being refused important gardening jobs in Japan. While it could be argued that the appointment of a woman in this role damages its authenticity as culturally it is unacceptable for a woman to design, I believe that regardless of their gender, if the individual has adequate education in the subject, their gender will not harm the output quality. This makes the garden a unique instance where tradition could be ignored in some instances (Japan’s cultural misogyny) and completely embraced in others (Japanese gardening convention). This means the garden despite being incredibly conventional from a gardening perspective, is ground-breaking form a cultural perspective. This opinion is also repeated by Professor Fukuhara, stating “Taki Handa was the first and only woman to have designed a (Christie-Stewart, 1955) (Tachibana, 2004: 14) 55 (Tachibana, 2004: 14) 56 (Raggett, 2013: 14) 57 (Stewart, 1955: 212) 58 (Nakanome, 1948: 95) 59 (Stewart, 2020) 60 (Raggett, 2013: 14) 61 (Raggett, 2013: 14) 62 (Tachibana, 2004: 14) 63 (Nakanome, 1948: 97) 53 54

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Japanese garden of this nature. The fact that she was appointed in 1908 is of significant interest worldwide”64.

(Stewart, 2017)

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180260827 Jijo Suzuki, and Further Development

Sometime after Handa’s departure from Britain (probably soon after 191065) a native Japanese garden designer named Jijo Suzuki (1873-1937) began advising Christie on her garden after requesting his attendance while he was visiting London on business66. Born in Nagoya, he was the son of a wealthy businessman67. Being the eldest son Suzuki became the nineteenth generation of Buddhist temple priest, becoming a Master of the Sōami School, one of the oldest traditional flower-arranging schools in Japan. Unfortunately, this temple was destroyed during the second world war68. Suzuki travelled frequently between Nagoya, where his wife and family of three daughters and two sons lived, and London for business. Soon after arriving in the UK he had a lasting relationship with Henrietta Harding, a housekeeper, fathering one daughter and four sons. This life of bigamy is one of high consequence for Suzuki’s reputation, as in Japan the concept of bigamy is social taboo, and any member of society being seen to be a bigamist would have been met with hostility by Japanese society at the time. There is reason to believe that this aspect of his life became public in the early 1930s, as in 1930 he attended a garden party in honour of TIH Prince visiting the UK, showing that he must have still been socially accepted within the small Anglo-Japanese community69. However, by 1933 he wrote to Christie from Nagoya that Japan has “now no business for me” and expressed “I am intending to go back to England where it is better than here”70. This change in tone regarding his homeland and his lack of care for the Japanese life he is leaving is a tonal change from his previous letters, and suggests he is no longer as welcome at home. The consequence of this social rejection has led to there being very little surviving evidence of his life, with no record of him attending the institutions he was taught as well as nearly no historical acknowledgements of his designs other than his work in Britain. This social rejection of Suzuki could harm the legitimacy of the garden, as its entire reputation is built upon his statement that it is the “most important Japanese garden in the western world”71. With his reputation destroyed, one could argue that it damages the legitimacy of his statement. His influence on Cowden was one of a more advisory roles and was in semi-frequent contact with Ella until 1936. While advising Christie on her garden, Suzuki made few changes. The first correction he gave was regarding the position of the ishi-doro (snow viewing) lantern, suggesting moving it from the south bank of the pond to a rock promontory by the west bank of the pond, south of the water inlet72. This placement is stronger than the original placement, as it thematically resonates with the Fuji slopes due to both being connected to snow and winter. It also makes sense for the lantern to be placed at the point south and north meet, as opposed to being completely south which is associated with summer. The final major correction to the original garden was replacing one of the two arched bridges connecting to the outlying isle, stating it was “like a flaw in a precious gem”73. He suggested that the

(Raggett, 2010: 504) (Raggett, 2013: 14) 67 (Raggett, 2010: 504) 68 (Raggett, 2010: 504) 69 (Raggett, 2010: 508) 70 (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers) 71 (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers) 72 (Raggett, 2013: 14, 15) 73 (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers) 65 66

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Figure 17: Portrait of Suzuki, c.1930 (Raggett, 2010)

Figure 16: Shinzaburo Matsuo, Cowden’s Gardener, c.1925 (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 18: Updated ishi-doro location (Stewart, 1955)

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arched bridge connecting to the south half of the garden be replaced by a yatsuhashi bridge (zigzag) but admitted this was a task of “secondary importance”74. His letter included detailed illustrations, showing where it should connect to the isle with stone placement details noted75. There were multiple reasons for this suggested change, one reason being that this style of bridge is designed so the planks can be removed, therefore restricting access to the isle if privacy is desired76. The second reason was that this style of bridge is intended to be loitered on to enjoy the surroundings, such as water plants, fish in the pond as well as lingering to enjoy the cool breezes77. Initially, Ella had carried out the maintenance of the garden herself, however, due to Ella’s age she was unable to carry out these tasks effectively, so Suzuki suggested seeking a Japanese gardener to maintain the garden authentically. In 1925, she hired Japanese gardener Shinzaburo Matsuo78, who had experience working on gardens throughout Europe. He developed to become a living embodiment of the garden, rarely was the garden open and he was not present. The vision of him working within the garden was described: “he grew to be as much a part of the garden as its trees and shrubs- and even greater attraction to visitors”79. Despite this optimism, Matsuo’s life history was described as: “alone in the world, having lost his entire family in one of earthquakes, he adopted this little corner of Scotland”80. Matsuo died in Scotland in 1939, Buried in the nearby Muckart churchyard, next to Ella’s future grave. In 2017, Sara Stewart stated: “That miss Christie went to such pains to obtain the right skill and knowledge from japan and was able to obtain such faithful service from those strangers in a foreign land were the reasons for the subsequent success of the enterprise”81. While his contribution was not as influential as Christie’s or Handa’s, nor as legitimising as Suzuki’s, Matsuo’s dedication for over a decade to its maintenance is a major contribution to the garden’s reputation. The suggestion to hire Matsuo was inspired, as it is unlikely that Ella would have been able to modify the garden without someone with the appropriate skillset to execute her vision. Therefore, Matsuo deserves credit for retaining the gardens authenticity during an era where could have been lost. Despite not being as big of an influence on the gardens character as Christie or Handa, Professor Jijo Suzuki’s value to the garden is his approval, as Handa’s design needed to be critiqued to gain legitimacy. Being an experienced, highly educated garden designer, his opinion was of high value, especially regarding the authenticity of the design and execution of the garden. His corrections were welcome additions into the garden, successfully enhancing the perfect design laid out by Taki Handa to its fullest extent. And while his bigamy did harm the gardens overall image, it did not affect his ability and expertise in garden design. With Taki Handa’s lack of experience as a professional designer, Suzuki’s seal of approval on the project (as well as his lack of corrections) emphasises the authenticity of Handa’s original design.

Raggett, 2013: 15) FIGURE OF ZIG ZAG ILLUSTRATION 76 (Stewart, 2020) 77 (Conder, 1893: 90) 78 (Tachibana, 2014: 11) 79 (Stewart, 1955: 216) 80 (Stewart, 1955: 216) 81 (Stewart, 2018: 7) 74 75

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Figure 19: Yatsuhashi bridge (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 20: Suzuki's instructions, (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers)

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ROBERT CHRISTIE, DATED 50S BY SARA

Figure 21: View from the inari shrine's former location, now a dead end (Galvin, 2020)

Figure 22: Examples of Inari Foxes, dated 1850s (https://www.bada.org/object/inari-fox-messengers) and Torii Gate

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Now in her sixties, Christie sought to entertain guests as the primary focus for the garden. To accommodate this new function for the garden, a series of modifications were made by Ella to the original garden, including the addition of a Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari, a summerhouse at the northern point of the slopes of Mount Fuji, a teahouse for the outlying isle and a revolving umbrellashaped arbour. Due to the role Suzuki played as an adviser, knowledge of his influence on these garden aspects is limited, however it is reasonable to infer that he would have advised Christie on the correct structures and their appropriate placements to some degree. The exact dates of these modifications are also unknown but can be assumed the majority were implemented in the twenties and early thirties, as Christie spent the 1910s travelling until volunteering to run cafés in for allied soldiers in Paris (1916-19). She also required them for her increased use of the garden for social gatherings. These additions to the garden were researched from Christie’s personal Landscape Gardening in Japan copy, as all structures introduced in this period are copies of illustrations by Conder82. The largest of these modifications is the Inari Shrine. The shrine is dedicated to Inari the great benefactor of Japan, the fox god who introduced rice and its cultivation to Japan83. However, the name is misspelled when mentioned, being spelt “Imari” which is commonly used in the west to describe brightly coloured porcelain ware from Arita. Situated in the south-west of the garden behind the flat garden, with stepping-stones starting at the Kasuga Lantern in the flat garden, passing through a red lacquered Torii (meaning sacred place) gate and winding up the southern slope to the shrine, which was covered by a “pergola-like Shinto shrine structure”84, the roof comprised of cryptomeria wound through the timber frame85. The pergola frame and Torii gate were both imported from Japan, as well as four fox statues that permanently guarded the shrine86. Two of the foxes held gold balls in their mouths and two held scrolls, representing the good fortune of their master’s gift. This shows that Christie had not lost her desire for authenticity in her old age and would have found examples of shrines such as hers in Conder’s writing. However, the examples given of Shinto shrines in the book are scattered and inconsistent, and rarely is a shrine an aspect of both hill gardens and flat gardens. Therefore, I believe that while this addition to the garden was scrutinised by its creator to be as authentic as possible, the inconsistent referencing of this element in gardens like Cowden by Conder means it does slight harm to the garden’s authenticity. The revolving summerhouse is more conventional in its position in the garden, being situated at the most northern point of the Fuji slopes. This complies with Conder’s teachings as he states they should be “placed on prominent elevated sport, in order that they may afford either a charming view of the garden itself, or a beautiful outside prospect”87. This summerhouse offers both, with a view of nearly the entire garden, as well as the southern fields of the estate. Due to the hexagonal shape of the summerhouse, it may have also been possible to view the Ochils in the west. However, the addition of this element at the top of a garden would have required to design a path leading to the structure, but without a garden designer the execution of this job may have been somewhat

(Conder, 1893: 95/Plate XXIV) (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 84 (Tachibana, 2004: 380) 85 (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 86 (Christie-Stewart, 1955) 87 (Conder, 1893: 93) 82 83

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Figure 23: Summerhouse (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 24: Revolving umbrella arbour (Stewart, 2018)

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novice. Despite this, I believe that this addition is more authentic of a modification than the Inari shrine, due to it being a common element of hill gardens, the appropriate placement of the summerhouse as well as the accuracy of the structure’s architecture (having been designed based on Conder’s illustrations). The final major modification made during this period was the addition of a teahouse on the outlying isle. This modification peculiar, as it appears to have been used as a secondary master’s isle during this period due to its size being able to accommodate multiple guests. While the concept of teahouse on an isle is highly common, it is unusual to have two isles fulfilling nearly the same function within a garden of this scale. However, I argue that while Cowden garden is a large Japanese garden, the lifestyle Christie had during this period meant that she may have outgrown the gardens size when it came to accommodating guests. Therefore, certain elements of the garden began to bleed into other elements, rather than redesign the garden to adapt it to Christie’s growing list of requirements. This is the only addition to the garden that I would argue to be inauthentic due to there being no argument by Conder found to justify its existence.

Figure 25: Outlying Teahouse, east view (Stewart, 2018)

Figure 26: Outlying Teahouse, view from summerhouse (Stewart, 2018)

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Figure 28: Map of Cowden c.1955 (Stewart, 2021)

Figure 27: Illustrations of summerhouse variant and umbrella arbour (Conder, 1893: XXIV)

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180260827 A New Garden: The Restoration Journey

Ella Christie died on 29th of January 1949, suffering from leukaemia, and was buried next to Matsuo in Muckart Churchyard. The garden was then inherited by her nephew Robert Stewart, who continued to maintain the garden and give private tours throughout the fifties, opening on May 28th, 1955 for the last time publicly88. During this era of the garden there was less development, due to Ella’s passing and financial difficulty. Despite Cowden Castle being demolished in 1952, the family still maintained the garden, though not to the same standard as before89. However, in 1963 the garden was vandalised by trespassing teenagers that burnt the structures and bridges and threw lanterns and shrines into the pond90. With the damage irreparable, the garden fell into disarray. Sara Stewart recalled that Robert Christie-Stewart (her father) was “shattered” by the vandalism, and firmly believed that he “never quite got over it (the vandalism)”91 so there is a chance emotional trauma was another factor in the lack of maintenance post-vandalism. The garden remained unkept until 2008, when Sara Stewart (Robert’s daughter) inherited the garden92. After inheriting the garden, Sara managed to convince her father to commission the construction of the bridges to the outlying isle in 2011, and helped his daughter dredge the pond to retrieve the stone lanterns thrown in by the vandals. In 2013 Masao Fukuhara, Professor of Design and Environmental Planning and Architecture from Osaka University of Arts, requested to visit the gardens remains after hosting a presentation in Dollar. Fukuhara is a seasoned garden designer, responsible for multiple UK Japanese gardens such as the Japanese garden in the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, restoration of the Japanese garden at Tatton Park, and winning the Chelsea flower show in 200193. These experiences mean Fukuhara is an ideal pick to restore Cowden, as he has prior experience restoring and designing Japanese gardens in Britain. Fukuhara’s desire to restore Cowden garden was based on his adoration of Taki Handa, having read of her work at Cowden when studying landscape architecture at university and educated the Stewart family on the significance of her achievement94. Sara admitted the family’s interpretation of Suzuki’s quote “the most important Japanese garden in the western world” was that it was referring to how authentic the garden was in its design and creation. Fukuhara disagreed with this and told the family the garden is important because it was the only Japanese garden of this size in the world designed by a woman95, and that she could achieve such an authentic result in a foreign environment96. Fukuhara was “appalled” by the condition of the garden and said to Stewart “give it a year and it’ll be too far gone (to restore)”97. However, he could see “the bones of what she (Taki Handa) had created” with Stewart recalling his “immense” respect for her and her work98. After requesting to lead the restoration, Stewart agreed and began the restoration process. A charity was formed to raise funds, as well as the decision to have it open all year (the original plan was for a thirty-day

(Stewart, 2014: 9) (Stewart, 2014: 7) 90 (Stewart, 2018: 8) 91 (Stewart, 2020) 92 (Stewart, 2014: 9) 93 (Fukuhara, 2006) 94 (Stewart, 2018) 95 (Fukuhara, 2014) 96 (Stewart, 2020) 97 (Stewart, 2020) 98 (Stewart, 2020) 88 89

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Figure 30: Dredged pond, 2011 (Cowden, 2021)

Figure 29: Masao Fukuhara and colleague inspecting lantern remains (Stewart, 2018)

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Figure 31: Restoration process (Stewart, 2018)

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opening window). The arched bridge bought in 2011 unfortunately had to be returned and remade as it did not meet Fukuhara’s standards99. Phase one of the restoration began in August 2014, with the master’s and guest’s isle’s and their surrounding area, the south-west flat-garden area and the flat ground north of the outlying isle’s arched bridge. Phase one focused on restoring stepping-stone and gravel paths in these areas, as well as restoring the stone arrangement laid by Handa and placing the lanterns back in position. Phase two began in October 2014 and focused on the hill garden, restoring the miniature hills, pruning the structure, and replanting what did not survive the era of neglect. Next, the outlying isle’s banks were reinforced, and its shape refined to its original form. The pathways and stepping-stones of these areas were also restored100. Phase three took longer to complete, due to Fukuhara’s commitments in Japan it was difficult to keep momentum going as his expertise was needed for certain tasks101. This phase focused on the inlet and outlets of the garden, restoring the western stream and the east burn and embankment as well as completing planting in previously restored areas. It also focused on the structures such as teahouses, bridges, and gates, as these would require additional fundraising to complete. On 8th September2016, the garden opened to the public for a limited time the first public opening of the garden since 1955. Though midway through the restoration, the teahouse and all bridges had been completed by this point in the process, but further refinement and pruning was needed to ensure the gardens completion102. The entrance gate to the garden had also been remade in the image of the original. By 2018 the garden was nearly complete, with only modern additions remaining to be done. Due to it being a historic attraction, an education pavilion is currently under construction on the south bank of the pond, placed over the original site of the boathouse103. A guest house is also proposed to begin construction soon, despite hoping to begin construction in 2015(subject to planning permission). Situated in the north-east point of the site, the house would be available to rent to the public, but due to its position on the site it would be a discreet yet major addition to the new garden. While it could be argued that these structures water down the pure authenticity of the new garden, it would be unreasonable to assume the garden could be maintained without a steady income of finances. The family no longer have the wealth Ella enjoyed, and I argue these additions to the garden are well justified if they enhance the quality of the garden in the short term and secure its existence in the long term. All timber structures were created by J. Rose Carpentry, who were tasked with faithfully recreating the structures using photos of the original garden. Traditional Japanese joining techniques were used exclusively in the creation and was constructed using bamboo and trees cut on site104. the decision to use traditional joinery in the structures shows a dedication to authenticity, as it would have been

(Stewart, 2020) (Stewart, 2014: 14, 15) 101 (Stewart, 2020) 102 (Forsyth, 2018) 103 (Stewart, 2020) 104 (Rose, 2020) 99

100

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Figure 34: Final Map of Cowden Garden, restored (momiji, 2021)

Figure 32: Construction notes for teahouse (Rose, 2016)

Figure 33: Joining details of teahouse (Galvin, 2020)

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cheaper to construct using western joints. The decision to use local timber will have also been accurate to how the original structures were created. The garden was restored to the condition Handa left, with Fukuhara opting to honour the garden she designed instead of the modified version that succeeded it. Fukuhara’s interpretation of Suzuki’s quote is that he was not referring to the modified version (as it had not been modified too heavily at the time of quotation) but to the original design left by Handa105. This means that the revolving summerhouse and the outlying isle teahouse have not been recreated, due to Fukuhara’s interpretation that these elements were not intended to exist. The Inari shrine was also ignored, with Sara stating its exclusion was due to conflict of religious beliefs, as Taki Handa was a Christian Fukuhara was not happy restoring an element that neglected Handa’s beliefs106. While this may be a legitimate concern, it is unlikely Handa herself would have been offended. While yes, her Christian beliefs were strong, Handa was known to attend neighbours Buddhist ceremonies when living in Japan, so it is doubtful that she would have objected to Ella’s shrine107. However, the strongest argument for its absence is that it drastically altered what Fukuhara believes to be a perfection, therefore its presence would damage that perfection. The only modifications to the original design deemed acceptable were the yatsuhashi bridge and the snow-viewing-lantern positioned where Suzuki recommended, and despite his dislike for Suzuki, Fukuhara reluctantly agreed these corrections were legitimate108. Fukuhara’s opinion of Suzuki is not high, which is unsurprising knowing his history of bigamy. An example of this is Fukuhara’s dislike of the charity using Suzuki’s quote for marketing and believed that the inclusion of Suzuki in the history of the garden can only damage its reputation. This shows how strong the dislike of Suzuki is in Japan, that nearly one hundred years later Japanese society refuses to accept him. Therefore, one could argue his lack of influence compared to Handa’s only served to enhance its reputation and authenticity in the long term, instead of harming it. While Fukuhara’s dedication to authenticity is commendable, there is one aspect of the garden that is a contradiction to this philosophy. The flat garden, due to no photographic evidence or remains in the garden, made it the most difficult aspect of the garden to restore accurately. Instead, the decision was made to make an educated guess. The only knowledge of this area was that Robert Stewart recalled there being a dry garden (karen-sansui) situated in the flat garden but was unable to confirm if it was a modification or original109. Due to flat gardens commonly having a dry garden aspect, Fukuhara concluded it was highly possible this element was of the original design. Fukuhara’s flat garden is safe in its convention, with three separate isles protruding from the sand, representing the ancient story of the tortoise and the two cranes (a story commonly depicted in dry gardens). It may be possible that Fukuhara had prior knowledge of the dry garden’s composition from his time at university. It is also thought by Sara that the modern version of the dry garden may stretch too far south, and that the original garden was probably smaller in scale110. The central isle represents a crane, and on this isle three large stones were placed by Fukuhara to represent Ella Christie, Robert Stewart and Sara Stewart and their roles in protecting the garden. However, the order of the stones

(Stewart, 2020) (Stewart, 2020) 107 (Raggett, 2013: 20) 108 (Stewart, 2020) 109 (Stewart, 2020) 110 (Stewart, 2020) 105 106

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Figure 35: Updated Dry Garden, closest isle symbolising the tortoise, middle representing the crane and the 3 figures of Cowden (Galvin, 2020)

Figure 36: Teahouse, and the restored hill garden (Galvin, 2020)

Figure 37: Western view of garden (Galvin, 2020)

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is that Robert Stewart is represented by the largest stone in the centre, with the two stones on its left and right representing Sara Stewart and Ella Christie. This choice of order is rather peculiar, since Robert Stewart was significantly less influential than Ella and Sara, it makes no apparent sense that he should get the largest stone. Sara believes this is an element of Japanese culture, that despite the women involved being of higher importance, they cannot ascend above a male in the social hierarchy111. If this is a correct interpretation of intent, the decision to prioritise Robert over both creator and of the garden is not only contradictory to the spirit of the garden, but factually inaccurate, and has potential to harm the restored garden’s authenticity heavily. Despite this aspect, the overall attempt to recapture the original design is successful. Even though it is possible the original version was different, the one replacing it is simple in concept, yet executed brilliantly and is a commendable attempt.

Figure 38: Illustration by Conder of the Karen-Sansui tortoise and crane symbolism (Conder, 1893:58)

111

(Stewart, 2020)

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Figure 39: Lagoon, isles and slopes (Galvin 2020)

Figure 40: Aerial view of garden (Cowden, 2021)

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180260827 Conclusion

The case for Cowden Garden’s authenticity is undeniable. At every stage of the creation process, considerable care was taken by Christie to ensure that her garden was as authentic as possible, such as hiring Handa, following Conder’s teachings to the letter, being advised by Suzuki as well as hiring Matsuo. Her dedication to hiring Japanese workers and designers to create and maintain her garden gave the garden a long-lasting high standard, and in its time would have most certainly been “the most important Japanese garden in the Western world”. Despite the post-war modifications not adhering to Handa’s perfect design, most additions in this era were carefully researched under the eye of Suzuki, showing that even during this time great care was given to maintaining the gardens importance in the west, not damage it. Also, while one could argue that Cowden’s geographic location means it cannot be truly authentic, a truly authentic Japanese garden must use its surrounding scenery and nature in the garden, blending the boundaries of artificial and natural. Regardless the location, if the garden does not utilise its surroundings to amplify the garden’s experience, it is no longer a good quality Japanese Garden, therefore Cowden should not be punished for embracing its Scottish side but celebrated. However, upon finishing the dissertation it became clear that I may have been asking the wrong question. Jill Raggett believes the quest for authenticity by critics has devalued many of these gardens, because it assumes these gardens can only be replicas and never hope to match the Japanese in authenticity. It also misses the obvious point gardens away from their natural geology, climate and society will be different. This garden should instead be viewed “through the eyes of their contemporary creators, builders and garden visitors, both for their accurate restoration and for an understanding of the complex history they represent”112. The restoration of Cowden exposes how an “authentic restoration” is not an exercise in copying, but an exercise in creative interpretation. Due to different versions of the garden existing at different times, there are several different ways the garden could be restored authentically, but it depends what version it is adhering too. Given the opportunity, it is possible many garden designers may have interpreted the version from 1955 as authentic and replicated that authentically instead, it is impossible to know. Therefore, the question “is the restored garden authentic?” cannot be answered, and is more appropriate to ask, “was the garden iteration the designer chose to restore the most authentic iteration of the garden?”. In which case, I believe that Fukuhara’s loyalty to the original iteration of the garden was the correct opinion to have, and despite the problems regarding the dry garden, the overall execution of the restoration was highly commendable. Therefore, yes, the restored Cowden Garden is utterly authentic from both a design and creation point of view, but is must also be celebrated for what it is, a monument to its creators, and a celebration of their relationship with Japan.

112

(Raggett, 2006: 9)

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List of Figures Figure 1: Ella Christie portrait, 1909 (Stewart, 2018) ........................................................................... 10 Figure 2: Ella in her garden (Stewart,2018) .......................................................................................... 10 Figure 3: Photo by Handa of her view when designing (Nakanome:c1948)......................................... 13 Figure 4: Map of Cowden Estate (Tachibana, 2004) ............................................................................. 13 Figure 5: Garden map displaying locations of photographs (Momiji, 2021) ........................................ 15 Figure 6: Portrait of Taki Handa (Stewart, 2018) .................................................................................. 15 Figure 7: Slopes of Mount Fuji (Stewart, 2018) .................................................................................... 17 Figure 8: Image of Outlying Isle (Stewart, 2018) .................................................................................. 17 Figure 9: Christie and her gardener, by the lagoon and Master's Isle (Stewart, 2018) ........................ 19 Figure 10: Mill stone lantern designed by Taki Handa (original mill stone broken next to replacement) (Galvin, 2020) ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Figure 11: Lagoon stepping-stones and Master's Isle ........................................................................... 20 Figure 12: Teahouse, isles, and the Fuji Slopes (Galvin, 2020) ............................................................. 20 Figure 13: only surviving image of original flat garden (south of garden) (Stewart, 2018) .................. 22 Figure 14: West side of the flat garden, next to the stream (Stewart, 2018) ....................................... 22 Figure 15: Shinzaburo Matsuo, Cowden’s Gardener, c.1925 (Stewart, 2018) ..................................... 26 Figure 16: Portrait of Suzuki, c.1930 (Raggett, 2010) ........................................................................... 26 Figure 17: Updated ishi-doro location (Stewart, 1955) ........................................................................ 26 Figure 18: Yatsuhashi bridge (Stewart, 2018) ....................................................................................... 28 Figure 19: Suzuki's instructions, (ACC5058: Stewart-Christie Papers) .................................................. 28 Figure 20: View from the inari shrine's former location, now a dead end (Galvin, 2020) ................... 29 Figure 21: Examples of Inari Foxes, dated 1850s (https://www.bada.org/object/inari-foxmessengers) and Torii Gate .................................................................................................................. 29 Figure 22: Summerhouse (Stewart, 2018) ............................................................................................ 31 Figure 23: Outlying Teahouse, east view (Stewart, 2018) .................................................................... 32 Figure 24: Outlying Teahouse, view from summerhouse (Stewart, 2018) ........................................... 32 Figure 25: Map of Cowden c.1955 (Stewart, 2021) .............................................................................. 33 Figure 26: Masao Fukuhara and colleague inspecting lantern remains (Stewart, 2018) ..................... 35 Figure 27: Dredged pond, 2011 (Cowden, 2021) .................................................................................. 35 Figure 28: Restoration process (Stewart, 2018) ................................................................................... 36 Figure 29: Construction notes for teahouse (Rose, 2016) .................................................................... 38 Figure 30: Joining details of teahouse (Galvin, 2020) ........................................................................... 38 Figure 31: Final Map of Cowden Garden, restored (momiji, 2021) ...................................................... 38 Figure 32: Updated Dry Garden, closest isle symbolising the tortoise, middle representing the crane and the 3 figures of Cowden (Galvin, 2020) ......................................................................................... 40 Figure 33: Teahouse, and the restored hill garden (Galvin, 2020) ....................................................... 40 Figure 34: Western view of garden (Galvin, 2020) ............................................................................... 40 Figure 35: Lagoon, isles and slopes (Galvin 2020) ................................................................................ 41 Figure 36: Aerial view of garden (Cowden, 2021)................................................................................. 41

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180260827 Bibliography

Stewart, Sara, 2014, A Restoration Appeal: The Japanese Garden, Cowden Castle Stewart, Sara, 2018, A Fundraising Appeal to Rescue Lost Treasure: The Japanese Garden, Cowden Castle Tachibana, S, 2014, The “Capture” of Exotic Natures: Cross-cultural Knowledge and Japanese Gardening in Early 20th Century Britain, Japanese Journal of Human Geography Redfoot, Alison, 2011, Abstract Victorian Watercolourist Ella Mary Du Cane: A Study in Resistance and Compliance of Gender Stereotypes, the Professional Art World, Orientalism, and the Interpretation of Japanese Gardens for British Society Tachibana, S, 2004, Japanese gardens in Edwardian Britain: landscape and transculturation, Journal of Historical Geography Raggett, Jill, 2010, Shadowy Figures: Early Japanese Garden Designers in Britain and Ireland in H. Cortazzi (ed.) Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits Volume VII, The Japan Society Raggett, Jill, 2006, “Early Japanese-style gardens in Britain- an Overview”, Japanese Garden Society, Shakkei Vol. 13 No.2 Raggett, Jill, Kajihara-Nolan, Yuka, Nolan, Jason, 2013, “Handa Taki (1871-1956) – teacher, horticulturalist and garden designer”, Chapter for Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII, Japan Society Stewart Christie Papers, Acc 5058, National Library of Scotland Conder, Josiah, 1893. Landscape Gardening In Japan. Tōkyō: Kodansya International Ltd Stewart, Averil, 1955. Alicella. John Murray Publishers Ltd Christie, Ella and Christie-Stewart, Alice, 1940. A Long Look at Life By Two Victorians. London: Seely, Service & Co Rolfe, Julia, 2019. The Pleasaunce, Scotland’s Garden and Landscape Heritage Fukuhara, Masao, 2006. Japan Society North West Presents The History of Japanese Gardens By Professor Masao Fukuhara, Ness Botanic Gardens Galvin, Benjamin, 2021, Interview of Sara Stewart, Garden Restorer Online Resources: https://www.jgs.org.uk/gardens/history-of-japanese-gardens-in-the-uk/ https://www.jgs.org.uk/gardens/aspects-of-design/ https://www.cowdengarden.com/ https://www.cowdengarden.com/the-garden/ecological-history/ https://www.cowdengarden.com/the-garden/progress/ https://www.cowdengarden.com/the-garden/background/ 45

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https://www.cowdengarden.com/the-garden/history/ https://www.jrosecarpentry.co.uk/japanese-garden-building-azumaya.php https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-garden https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-45375602 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-23970528 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-36285102 https://www.bada.org/object/inari-fox-messengers https://glasgowgallivanter.com/2019/10/07/cowden-japanese-garden-castle-campbell/ https://www.alloaadvertiser.com/news/15796384.walk-past---restoring-japanese-gardens/ https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/our-secret-garden-duo-tend-botanical-wonder-in-splendidisolation/ https://www.elliscampbellfoundation.org/grants/japanese-garden-at-cowden-castle https://www.heraldscotland.com/lif----00000e_style/17633367.garden-week-japanese-gardencowden/ https://www.simplyemma.co.uk/visiting-the-japanese-garden-at-cowden-in-a-wheelchair/ https://www.pressreader.com/uk/scottish-field/20190929/281612422007266 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Conder_(architect)#See_also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Christie#Travels https://www.momiji-design.co.uk/japanesegardenrestoration

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3013 Outline: Project Declaration: My Project is A public Aquarium focusing on coral reef restoration, located in regents park, surrounding the iconic penguin pool designed by lubetkin. The buildings dimensions are offset from the pool dimensions, creating a synergy between both buildings and their aesthetics. 3.1: Sustainability strategy and Environmental design All rainwater will be stored in an below ground tank and repurposed for daily amenities, as well as contributing to the aquarium waters once properly filtrated All water filtration and feeding for the aquariums will be done from 2 locations in the building, one below the aquariums and one above, to allow natural forces of gravity to aid in the piping process to require less electricity to work effectively. These areas are also concerning for noise pollutions as they are incredibly loud machines, so will be as far away as possible from the communal areas of the building All energy required will be aqquired via solar panels on the roof. Due to the curved nature of the roof, the panels will be placed over a 180 degree span to allow for maximum energy consumption despite the time in the day. 3.2: structural strategy & construction strategy The primary structure will be reinforced concrete walls, .7 and .5 m thick depending on the loads required to bear. When required a secondary CLT timber structure will be utilised, such as underneath the penguin pool which required being suspended above the viewing gallery The tertiary structure will mainly be the roof, which will also be made of CLT timber due to it being easy to bend into the required forms for the building, as well as being light as to not require additional pillars to survive the wall span. 3.3: Fire strategy All fire escapes are located in the north west and east parts of the building, and are housed outside the main estructure to ensure their safety from the fire.

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Basement Floor 1

Ground Floor

Floor 0 includes, -Reception -Penguin pool courtyard -North labs,loading bay &

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

First Floor

Floor +1 includes, North first floor labs/offices north west walkway

Change offset of 2nd floor wall from 2.5 to 2.7 to match ground floor dimensions

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

2,5

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Basement Floor 2

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Foundation to wall detail

Floor acrylic detail

LABS HALL PENGUIN POOL

VIEWING GALLERY

AQUARIUM

VIEWING GALLERY

LABS

AQUARIUM

VIEWING GALLERY

AQUARIUM

DOME

LABS

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Floor Acrylic Window detail: R-Cast Acrylic (.5m) waterproofing membrane (5mm) Sealant (30mm each side) Concrete base must have 35mm cavity on both sides to allow for sealant and membrane

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