Spatial Phenomenon of Reflection Effect in Landscape Design THESIS

Spatial Phenomenon of Reflection Effect in Landscape Design

THESIS

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Landscape Architecture in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

Fangyuan Xie

Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture

The Ohio State University

2013

Thesis Committee:

Jason Kentner, Advisor

Jacob Boswell

Curtis Roth

Fangyuan Xie

2013

Abstract

The spatial phenomenon of reflection is ubiquitous in everyday life. Mirror is widely implemented in architectural use to broaden a space, multiply views or introduce views from beyond. Its ambiguous nature of virtual reality challenges our perceptions and understandings of the place and our position in it. Since early time, mirror reflection has been a popular pictorial motif in the history of Western art and widely implemented in modern art. It interests artists for its illusionary representational nature, the same as arts as a mimetic practice of life. Some artists use mirror as a responsive material to bridge the gap between people and art. Some question the spatial/ temporal quality of a space.

Since design is not only about functionality or aesthetics, but also about experience, incorporating reflection effect in design is a way to think design experientially. The spatial phenomenon of reflection allows people to observe their embodiness in the environment, and the notion of the body implies and produces the notion of the space.

While the effects have been thoroughly investigated for the conceptual meaning in art and strategic use in architecture, it is less categorized in an open landscape setting. In landscape settings, the only natural reflection occurs in reflecting pools. They usually exist adjacent to featured buildings or structures to reinforce their existence through the reflections in the water. Besides that, landscape architects, architects and artists are exploring the effects of reflection through installations or landscape artwork. The

ii ephemeral responsive nature of reflection effect challenges people’s visual perception, generates curiosity, invites touch and promotes people-place relationship.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate reflection effects in landscape setting, dealing with the natural force like sunlight, the ever-changing nature, and spatial condition as well as the experiential quality. A range of selected works of reflection effect is studied and categorized, according to the effect and strategy. A category is generated for later site-related investigation. Study models are designed and used to experience the effects in an immersive way. The roof garden adjacent to the architecture school’s library is selected as the real site of proposal for its accessibility and the distinctive site features.

Proposals are generated based on the site fact and are illustrated through rendering as well as those models. To conclude, the ultimate goal of the research is to design for spatial perception or experience through the spatial phenomena of reflection effects.

Since we are living a life at the pace that the environment is often overlooked, the experience of confronting with reflection effect will make us pause and think and really understand the place we are in. In here, reflection effect acts as a shortcut to arouse people’s awareness of the environment and their relationship to it.

iii

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank my thesis advisor Jason Kentner, and committee member Jacob Boswell and Curtis Roth, for their intellectual support.

I convey utmost thanks and love to my mom and dad for their endless love and support I can ever have.

Vita

2001...... The First High School in Changsha

2007...... B.S. Landscape Architecture, Central South

University of Forestry and Technology

2011 to present ...... Master of Landscape Architecture

Candidate, Ohio State University

Fields of Study

Major Field: Landscape Architecture

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... ii

Acknowledgments...... iv

Vita ...... v

List of Tables ...... viii

List of Figures ...... ix

Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1

Research Overview ...... 1

Background ...... 3

Chapter 2: History of Reflection Effects ...... 6

Mirror Reflection in Arts, Architecture and Landscape ...... 6

A Selection of Projects of Reflection Effects ...... 9

Chapter 3: Reflection Effect in Landscape Setting ...... 15

Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework ...... 19

Phenomenological Theory ...... 19

Framing/ Borrowing Landscape Strategy ...... 22

Chapter 5: Proposal for Real Site...... 24

Reflection in the Roof Garden ...... 24

Proposal of Reflection Effects in Roof Garden ...... 26

Reference ...... 31

vii

List of Tables

Table 1 A Selection of Reflection Project in Landscape ...... 9

viii

List of Figures

Figure 1 Kogod Courtyard, Kathryn Gustafson ...... 5

Figure 2 Vietnam Veteran Memorial, Maya Lin ...... 5

Figure 3 Mirror in Arts ...... 11

Figure 4 Interior Use of Mirror Reflection ...... 11

Figure 5 Exterior Use of Mirror Reflection ...... 11

Figure 6 Ring; Field ...... 12

Figure 7 Camouflage View, Metis Garden, Canada ...... 12

Figure 8 Finite| Infinite, Beijing Garden Expo ...... 13

Figure 9 Cloud Gate, Millennium Park, Chicago ...... 13

Figure 10 Glass Pavilion, Dan Graham ...... 14

Figure 11 Borrowed Scenery, Traditional Chinese Garden ...... 23

Figure 12 Roof Garden Site Plan ...... 26

Figure 13 Illustration of Looking Beyond ...... 27

Figure 14 Study Model for Multiple Views Effect ...... 28

Figure 15 Illustration of Infinite Reflection ...... 28

Figure 16 Study Model for Immersive Effect ...... 29

Figure 17 Illustration of Immersive Effect ...... 29

Figure 18 Distinct Views in Vertical ...... 30

Figure 19 Illustration of the Gallery of Views ...... 30 ix

Chapter 1: Introduction

Research Overview

With an acceleration of urbanization process, a lot more environment problems are springing up. At the meantime, as we occupy a progressively more urban environment, we can become disconnected from the natural force. We are living in a place that we will not give a second thought. Besides those large scale or long-term planning and design strategies, it is also worth noting that design should arouse environmental awareness at day-to-day experience. Experiential landscape is evaluated at three themes, how people attach significance or value to certain locations, how they orientate themselves, and how they develop an awareness of their home ground (Kevin Thwaites, 2010). Being stimulated of visual, aural and tactile sensation, people can be fully engaged in that environment. Robert Vischer, a German philosopher at the turn of the eighteen-century speculated on the possibility of an empathic relationship between forms and the physiology of the body and emotions (Vischer, 1873). His theory of empathic relationship between the outer world and our inner life as well as the value of a shared and considered emotional existence has significant implications for design. It re- orientates design away from a purely conceptual laden approach, towards one that requires designers to be sensitive to the inflections and nuances of living and to see design as a configuration and intensification of the everyday through care, empathy and generosity. 1

Designing for multi-sensory poetic experience asks to pay attention to design for details, from material properties to experiential quality of space. Responsive materials are subject to the change of its environment. The aural, tactile and visual qualities are changing in accordance with the light, shadow and the motion of passer-by. A careful combination of responsive and tactile media like mirror-like materials, etchings, daylight and shadows, surfaces of water, echoes, and plants is helpful to prompt curiosity, attract the eye, invite touch, and may serve as artifacts of the users’ presence. In the Vietnam Veteran

Memorial, it is the reflective granite wall of etched names that spiritually reconnects the visitors to the victims across time and space.

Environmental-behaviorism expert Jack Nasar has conducted research about people’s preference on water and its key aspect of reflection. The result indicates that people prefer reflective to transparent, prefer natural materials to artificial ones. The quietness and peacefulness of sitting along a reflective pond is considered as restorative for city dwellers. Walking by the water, seeing the on-going change image of the reflected surroundings is refreshing as well. Besides water, other materials like stone, glass and metal have been used to create reflection effects in landscape. The purpose of this research is to investigate the perceptual or experiential quality of space through reflection effects in landscape setting. It is an exploration of reflection effects in accordance with light and shadow and other natural forces and the spatial quality as well as experiential quality of people moving through the space.

Background

Experience of a space is so important in today’s design discipline. The effects of light and shadows, the aural, tactile and visual qualities of materials companying with the design of form and content, are decisive for the aesthetic appreciation and experiential quality of a space. Reflection as an inviting visual phenomenon is largely employed by artists and architects to extend vista, complete form, multiply a unit where repetition would be a pleasure, lend illusion and brilliance in connection with light-effect. (Frank Lloyd

Wright, 1994) In early 1998, Jonathan Miller focused his interests on reflection and host a gallery show named On Reflection. As a commonplace knowledge and experience, reflection is perceived as seeing something beyond eyesight or as visual illusion.

According to Miller, the less one sees on the reflective surface, the more he or she sees in it. It is the local properties of the reflective surface that defines the appearance of the reflection. The meaning of a mirror is whatever presenting in front of it. Reflective material is so responsive that it reproduces the light, shadow, motion within the environment. In Miller’s study on reflection, paintings of mirrors or water reflection imply the early interests on reflection in the art realm. After that, artists like Dan Graham,

Robert Smithson, Robert Morris and Robert Rauschenberg were leading in exploring the reflection in the art world. Mirror as painting canvas is a way artists used to explore bridges between art and life. The experience of mirror engaging audiences will be enhanced by further exploration of the nature of reflectivity, materiality and psychological response. In terms of architecture discipline, mirrors started as a decorative material for interior use. From facet mirrors to mirror walls, architects have been

3 exploring its illusionary quality. Later on mirror reflection has extended from interior use to exterior. In 1960’s, glass is so widely used in modern skyscrapers for letting the natural daylight come through and attaining the privacy from reflection. However, the glass as a tempting alternative material of sheet metal and steel has not yet much explored. (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1994)

Similarly, water as the most prominent design element in open space has been tested for its reflectivity by several landscape architects. Kathryn Gustafson is one among those who develops great interests in thin sheet of water on top of polished granite paving.

Seeing reflection of oneself in the ground, people feel more related to the environment. In the Kogod Courtyard (see Figure 1), the undulating ceiling reflected in the water sheet on the ground enhances the spatial interest and promotes interaction with environment.

Further, Jack Nasar (2004) has conducted research on people’s preference of reflective water. From the result, it shows that people prefer reflection to transparency, and as well, prefer natural materials to artificial ones. However, the research is limited to water in horizontal position. It fails to investigate reflectivity of other materials, like glass, stone and metal in vertical and angular conditions. Moreover, other attributes of materials, like roughness and reflectivity are open to investigate. Vietnam Veteran Memorial (see Figure

2) is an impressive memorial project for its “V” shape granite walls carving in the earth with the etchings on it. The dark polished granite is employed to complement the design idea of conveying condolence and contemplation, soothing and healing for visitors. The experience it creates through reflection brings together the live and the dead, today and

4 yesterday, visitor and the environment. According to a research, there is evidence showing a faster recovery rate is observed after visiting the site which is related to the reflective granite wall.

Figure 1 Kogod Courtyard Figure 2 Vietnam Veteran Memorial

Chapter 2: History of Reflection Effects

Mirror Reflection in Arts, Architecture and Landscape

Reflection effect exists everywhere in our everyday life. It may be the cloud and sky reflected in a puddle or the street scene and people passing by reflected in the glass window of a corner shop closet. The reflection turns a mere surface into something of depth with illusionary quality. Its ambiguous nature of a surface of illusionary depth has interested artists since early western painting. In 1998, Jonathan Miller’s exhibition on mirrors, reflections and optical illusions drew people’s attention to this commonplace phenomenon that most of us do not give a second thought. In this exhibition, he took the audience into a journey from science of optics to anthropology, psychology and art history. In those paintings, reflected images were mainly depicted to show the things the viewers would not otherwise be able to see. As a creative representation of the real world, reflection challenges people’s general perception of a place, draws their attention to something otherwise would be overlooked and highlights the disjunction between what they see and what they know. It thwarts one’s expectation and brings up a feeling of uncertainty that force us to really tap into the environment we are living in and build up a deeper memory to it.

Mirror reflection in arts has always been a popular motif due to its representational nature, the same as arts as a mimetic practice of life. Robert Rauschenberg’s interests in 6 gallery space and viewers role in the space lead him to use mirrors in combine paintings

(see Figure 3). It allows him to engage viewers in his work, giving away the artistic ego to an open-ended experience. It questions the relationship between subject and object and bridges the gap between life and arts. Minimalism Robert Morris’s mirrored cube (see

Figure 3) forces people to realize the disjunction between what he sees and what he knows through the illusion of mirror’s disappearance and reappearance. Robert Smithson uses mirrors to question the temporality of space by putting mirrors onto some land or some land put into the work (see Figure 3). As some of his work is photograph of mirrors, it shows the abstract meaning of mirror as a recorder of time while photography suspends. Dan Graham explores reflection throughout his works in performance, film, installation and architectural pavilions. He uses reflective media to make viewers confronted with their own images in an unexpected way. Unlike reflective works of

Robert Rauschenberg or Robert Morris, Dan Graham’s installation and architectural pavilions structure the viewers’ perceptual experience in a more immersive way, incorporating temporal and social elements. His pavilions are intended to function as punctuation, pausing or altering the experience of physical space along with contemplation between interior and exterior. It recalls many of his earlier experiments with perception, reflection and refraction but in a landscape setting. French phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty is particularly interested in the visual perception in understanding the world, using mirror as a model to describe the relationship between vision and arts. It is commonplace to know that in mirror, the viewer is both the subject and object at the same time.

Mirror reflection have been popularly implemented in architecture due to the massive production of reflective materials, like glass, metal as well as its illusionary nature of virtual reality. Mirrors are used to multiply views, dematerialize mass and convey a specific view (see Figure 4). Reflection allows scenes from different space appear at the same time. Some architects extend mirror reflection from interior to in-between space, reconnect architecture space to its larger landscape context. The Barcelona Pavilion (see

Figure 5) by Mies van de Rohe used a variety of reflective materials, including chrome, water, and marble, to achieve a balance between architecture and landscape. As quoted by Nicolau M. Rubio, Cahiers d'Art, “more often than not these walls are great, continuous panes of glass which only limit space partially. In some of these walls the glass has been tinted a sombre, neutral colour, and they reflect both objects and people in such a way that you see on the other side of the glass and what you see reflected on its surface seem to blend together.” Michael Hays elaborates in the Critical Architecture that

Mies’s use of reflections confuse the picture of reality: the virtual and the real become hard to separate, thus exemplifying the chaos of modern life. Through reflection, Mies breaks apart the calm of ordinary perception and dishevels the coherent picture of reality.

Moreover, the architectural use of mirror reflection becomes dominant in exterior as

“curtain walls” to eliminate the distinction or contradiction between interior and exterior, creating better views for office workers and block out most radius at the same time (see

Figure 5).

Other mirror art installations in open space setting are exploration of the effect for a specific context or for an experience. A monumental mirror installation “Ring” (see

Figure 6) by Arnaud Lapierre is an exceptional vision that reflects a newer version of a dynamic urban space that interacts with its environment. The installation features a cylinder-shaped mirror consisted of 4-metre high cubes, creating the sense of a distressed urban space. “Field” (see Figure 6) in Hyde Park, Sydney is a labyrinth maze of mirrors, reflecting the surrounding urban landscape as a kaleidoscope, comprised of 81 mirrored pillars, reflecting and refracting the constant changing scenes of the trees, grass and sky.

Visitors are interacting with this immersive installation.

A Selection of Projects of Reflection Effects

A selection of projects of reflection effects have been identified as followed:

Project Effect Glass Method Description Perception Type Camouflage View, Camouflage Aperture Folding (Self) - Mystery

Metis Garden concealed

Finite Infinite, Multiplicity Glass Face to Multiply Awe face Beijing Garden mirrors scenes Expo Cloud Gate, Distortion Glass Warping Distort Fun

Chicago scenes

Table 1 A Selection of Reflection Project in Landscape (continued)

Table 1 continued

Dan Graham Glass Illusion Two- Inserting See in/ see Contemplation Pavilion way mirror through

Reflection effects can conceal the view behind and be self-concealed at the same time.

Like project Camouflage View (see Figure 7) in Metis Garden, the angled steel fins with apertures conceal people walking by, blending them into the background, and at the same time dissolve itself into this environment. Infinite effect occurs when two or more mirrors placed facing each other. The space or view in between mirrors is multiplied infinite times in an expansive way, creating a tunnel-like effect (see Figure 8). When mirrors placed at certain angle, the space or view in between is multiplied from the axis. The small the angle, the more times of multiplication happen. The surface quality of reflective object affects how reflection look like. A warped surface creates a distortion of reflecting image. The Cloud Gate (see Figure 9) at Millennium Park is a 110 ton elliptical sculpture of highly polished stainless steel reflecting its surrounding parks and plazas. A two-way glass allows reflection and transparency happen at the same time. One may find him or herself disappear and reappear in the glass within the environment (see Figure 10).

Figure 3 Mirror in Arts

Figure 4 Interior Use of Mirror Reflection

Figure 5 Exterior Use of Mirror Reflection

Figure 6 Ring; Field

Figure 7 Camouflage View, Metis Garden, Canada

Figure 8 Finite| Infinite, Beijing Garden Expo

Figure 9 Cloud Gate, Millennium Park, Chicago

Figure 10 Glass Pavilion, Dan Graham

Chapter 3: Reflection Effect in Landscape Setting

Investigating reflection effects in landscape setting allows one to really tap into and think about a space from a wholeness perspective. A landscape setting is firstly a space, however, what distinguishes landscape from architecture space is its boundless and ever- changing nature. As quoted by a well-known landscape architect, “landscape architecture deals with time and focus on process, transformation and duration. Landscape architecture contributes to shape the world in constant flux and evolution.” Therefore, reflection effects in landscape setting would be not only about enlarging a space or conveying a view, but also about dealing with natural forces, the temporal quality of a place, the change of sunlight, and the depth of scenes as well as the perception of people moving in the space.

Light phenomena is imbedded in the material world, therefore the careful use of materials can promote the experiential quality of an environment in which we can experience the ephemeral more fully. Light phenomena become an observable experience with the exploration and manipulation of materials. The essence of reflection effect is the light bouncing back into people’s eyes when hitting the reflective surface, enabling people to see the image at somewhere it does not actually exist. A mirror, being a completely reflective surface, presents itself either as the complete presence or absence light. When reflecting towards, a mirror is the presence of light and image, but the same mirrored 15 surface reflecting away from you presents a void. The same mirror has two totally different readings. Prismatic effects, pixelation, and fracturing can be subscribed as subsets of reflection. The landscape is exposed to direct sunlight and also is subject to its change from daytime to nighttime. Reflection as a recorder of time documents this change through the interplay of light and shadow. In addition, as we are living towards a progressively more urban environment, we may become disconnected from the natural forces that prevail. Manipulation of light through reflection is a way to reconnect people to the phenomenology of natural events in day-to-day experience. Luminous Threshold at the entrance of Sydney’s Olympic Park is such a project highlighting the phenomenon of light captured and diffused by water vapor.

Landscape is boundless in nature, as what Kathryn Gustafson described -- anything under the open sky is a landscape architecture issue. We human approach the infinite or sublime nature through occupation; therefore landscape architecture manipulates a space for the sake of human experience and needs at a palpable human scale. The reflection effect as a representation of the real world at a shrinking scale exhibits the infinite landscape within a pictorial frame. Through the frame, a distant or infinite landscape becomes palpable and accessible, even only in vision. The placement of mirrors will determine the location where the reflected scenes exist. A mirror placed on the ground will reflect what is above, bringing down the scenes from above into the sight. Meanwhile, the above scenes are framed down into the mirror, from something impalpable to a focus of view. The reflection effects connect people to the environment through a perceptual occupation.

Since the world is an ever-changing landscape, from day to night, from season to season, everything is in constant flux and evolution. The reflection in glass façade, puddles or backside mirrors as a duplication of the real scenes highlights this motion in a fragmented way. As being discussed in art realm, reflective surface manifests and records time compared to non-reflective one. Additionally, the perception of this ever-changing environment is in accordance with people’s movement in it which would be more eminent through reflection. The ephemeral change of scenes accompanied with people’s movement in the environment will be highlighted through reflection. Since the nature of reflection is a representation of the world, what is going around it will be duplicated in its reflection, which altogether creates a more vibrant scene. In this sense, reflection effects allow people to be aware of and observe his/her position in the world and the pace of movement as from without.

The spatial quality of being open or enclosed, near or far and bright or dark can be manipulated through reflection as well. The architectural use of mirror reflection is rather strategic as dealing with space effects and spatial relationship than its conceptual meaning of representation. Light can be brought in through reflection from elsewhere to a place lacking of sufficient light, making the place feel bigger. At Versailles, mirrors were often placed opposite windows in order to amplify the existing daylight. They were often placed between windows in the form of pier mirrors which made the massive outer walls seem less heavy. Also, mirrors were often placed opposite other mirrors, creating an infinite vista. If there is light placed between the vista mirrors, there will an expansion of

17 light into infinity, reinforcing the vista effect. Those strategies can be implemented in landscape setting as well to multiply views, dematerialize mass, convey or conceal a specific view, and allow a smooth transition from space to space. Finite| Infinite by Peter

Walker at Beijing Garden Expo is such a project investigating mirrors spatial effect in a narrow strip of space. The face-to-face mirrored walls placed at the boundary transform a single line of birches into an infinite expansive forest of birches. Strings of pin lights hanging between the mirrors make the effect even more dramatic, transforming a narrow dark space into a bright expansive one.

Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework

Phenomenological Theory

Minimalism specifies the subject-object relationship onto the act of viewing in the 1960s, and works such as Dan Graham’s mirror-based installations in the 1970s placed increased importance on the interactions between viewers themselves. With the advent of

Relational Aesthetics and participatory art in the 1990s, a viewer’s interaction with artworks and other viewers have become primary relationships in the art-viewing experience. In Minimalism, the meaning of the object is not lying “inside” the object, but from the viewer’s interaction with it which led to a new emphasis on the physical space in which the artwork resided. Integrated into minimalism is the theory of phenomenology especially by the French philosopher, Merleau-Ponty, who argued that the relationship between people and the world is reciprocal, communicative and interdependent and viewing is an embodied experience since the world is all around us not in front of us. In this sense, reflection effects allow eyes to take in multiple views at once, and convey an allover sense of space. It conveys the notion that everything in the world is connected and different things are happening at the same time. While when we see ourselves in the reflection, we become acknowledged our position and condition in the world. The experience of entering a mirror maze can be disconcerting, at times terrifying, to be confronted with the multiplied self. However, the purpose of investigation in reflection

19 effects is not about creating such uncertainty and disorientation, but bringing one’s attention to one’s place in space. In other words, reflection effects enable us to observe our embodying and situation in the space which otherwise will not be noticeable from within.

The experience confronting with reflection effects is imbedded in its representational, transitory and ephemeral nature. The landscape setting as part of the bigger nature is an ever-changing, evolving system, although may be at an unnoticeable pace. Dealing with such open ever-changing space is dealing with its fluctuation, movement and indeterminacy. The perception of space motivates movement, and in turn, the movement determines the experience. Therefore, through this process the people-place relationship is enhanced and the space becomes unfold.

The Camouflage View at Metis Garden highlights site context of woodlands while blocks the view which the topography normally direct to. At once seductive and mysterious, the installation beckons visitors to approach while it simultaneously dissolves. The reflective patterns change dramatically with one's movement and thus incite the visitor to circle the wall and find the camouflaged view. The illusionary effect is achieved by folding the steel plane into angled fins with apertures intervals. It is a mysterious and illusionary experience when people seeing themselves blending into the environment as well as the foreground and background blending together. Through this experience of dissolving and regenerating, the project is becoming unfold and the essence of the place is revealed.

While a dissolving experience challenges people’s perception of reality and illusion, a distorted reflection image created by a warped mirror generates fun and curiosity. The

Cloud Gate at Chicago is a giant mirror-finished steel sculpture reflecting its surroundings in a dramatic exhilarating way, adding up aliveness and fun to the place as well as promoting people-place awareness. The spatial relationship between people, the sculpture and the place is constantly evolving with people moving around and is revealed in the reflection. When approaching the giant elliptical mirror, people are seeing more of themselves in a less distorted way than the reflection of the environment, while stepping further, they are observing more about the larger context and their place in it, in the spherical reflection.

Dan Graham explored the perceptual reflection effects through his glass pavilions which are derived from geometric forms and rendered in plate glass, two-way mirrors, and steel armature. Due to the material quality of two-way mirrors, sunlight is on its both side, and people can see each other wherever they stand. In his pavilions, people can observe and be observed at the same time. He intends his pavilions to function like punctuation, pausing or altering the experience of physical space, providing momentary diversion or places to delve into other activities.

Looking at these projects of reflection effect, it is clear that the meaning of reflection lies in the interdependent relationship between viewers, objects as well as the environment.

Viewers may orient and navigate themselves with this relationship which otherwise

21 would not be acknowledged without reflection. While mirror reflection emphasizes people-place relationship by duplicating the movement, it also possesses the merit of conveying a favorable view in stationary.

Framing/ Borrowing Landscape Strategy

As quoted, “shakkei, known as borrowed scenery, refers to the exploitation of scenery external to a garden’s physical boundaries, either immediately outside or at a distance, for the purposes of visually enlarging the garden’s scale and enhancing its aesthetic appeal.”

The Japanese garden is composed of a series of subtly structured views. One can appreciate the gardens as being a cross between painting (two dimensional representation) and sculpture (representation in three dimensions). As such a view will require a framing device, for example by means of architectural elements such as frame posts, garden walls, hedges or earth works and so on. The framing device is a way of limiting the borrowed scenery to the desirable elements, thereby concentrating the impact in terms of the composition of the garden. Therefore, this borrowing views strategy is firmly rooted in and originated from the site itself. According to the 1635 CE Chinese garden manual Yuanye, there are four categories of borrowed scenery, distant borrowing, like mountains or lakes, adjacent borrowing, like neighboring buildings and features, upward borrowing, like clouds, stars, and downward borrowing, like rocks, ponds. This is achieved by a carefully designed frame and by manipulating the elevation of the viewpoint. Installing mirrors into the landscape is a shortcut to borrow a scene from elsewhere into the front. It serves to contextualize the place within its larger context. It is

22 intelligent and economic to make use of existing landscape resources by hand or from distant, either from natural or built environment, as opposed to creating something brand new. Through exploring the site and its context, one can identify if there is a view worth highlighting or representing. As a framing strategy, mirror reflection highlights a specific view by framing the boundless nature into a boundary, directing one’s focus of attention to a specific scene. Mirror reflection not only adds up a layer of scenes to the space, but also challenges people’s perception of what is there and where exactly the scene is reflected from. Therefore, it is the viewpoint, the target scenes and the spatial relationship between the two determine the placement of the mirror.

Figure 11 Borrowed Scenery, Traditional Chinese Garden

Chapter 5: Proposal for Real Site

Reflection in the Roof Garden

I chose the roof garden (see Figure 12) in Knowlton School of Architecture adjacent to the school’s library as a real site to test my proposal of reflection effects. The intent is to investigate what effects may be implemented and transform the space or create a different experience. The roof garden has an area of around 3500 square feet. In the initial idea of design, the garden is supposed to be visually accessible and appreciated from the library, not necessarily for people to really step into and get immersed in. Therefore, it is a secluded space of three-side high walls with the primary plant, Staghorn Sumac, a deciduous plant of distinctive appearance in different seasons. From the library side, people can look through the glass curtain wall into this immersive garden, however, when they step into, a sense of enclosure and visual restraints will confront with them.

Implementing mirror reflection in such a space has the potential to extent views, overcome the spatial restrains and engage people to experience.

A depletion of orientation and position will occur when situating in the garden due to the visual restraints and spatial limitation. One can hardly know where actually he or she locates in the larger campus context. The borrowing scenery strategy may extent views outside the garden by implementing mirror in it. Through a careful study of the site

24 context and meticulously manipulating the mirror position, one can see other campus buildings of the same height. By incorporating scenes from beyond, people can understand where the garden sits in relation to its larger context and then orient themselves according to the position. A 45-degree angle mirror inserted into the wall can bring a view on the side of the garden into it horizontally turning 90 degree. The reflection would allow people to see the Fisher College building as well as the

Architecture School building at the same time in one scene (see Figure 13). If replacing two concrete walls with mirror walls, an infinite reflection will turn the secluded space into an enormous one (see Figure 14, 15), altering one’s perception of its spatial quality.

Also, due to its illusionary nature and being in such an immersive environment, the reflective surface conceals what is behind and at the same is self-concealed. Only through the disappearance or reappearance of oneself or others reflection can he or she realize the existence of a mirror (see Figure 16, 17). Additionally, the experiential or phenomenological quality of the space is explored through the shifting views from the sky to the ground. Using mirror as a viewfinder as well as a picture frame, different views of the garden can be highlighted and presented into eyes. With different composition of mirrors, views beyond normal sight are reflected once or twice from different direction, and presented in front of eyes. When people walking by this gallery of views, he or she sometimes is confronted with the sky, sometimes the tree canopy and sometimes self (see

Figure 18, 19), being fully engaged in the site distinct features and scenes.

As a conclusion, the Roof Garden as an enclosed semi-open space may employ mirror reflection to obtain spacious effect, extend views, and highlight distinct site features as well as people’s perception of the place. Reflection effects here redirect people’s attention to their existence in the place. It is a way to read the space and understand our relation to it in a communicative way. For further investigation, mock-up will be needed to test those effects with reflective materials in the garden. Since it is an exploration and study of experience, or perception, the most effective way would be to build up models at one to one scale with real materials. More importantly, using real reflective materials at one to one scale at the beginning of the site investigation process will be much more helpful to generate ideas originated from the site.

Proposal of Reflection Effects in Roof Garden

Figure 12 Roof Garden Site Plan

Figure 13 Illustration of Looking Beyond

Figure 14 Study Model for Multiple Views Effect

Figure 15 Illustration of Infinite Reflection

Figure 16 Study Model for Immersive Effect

Figure 17 Illustration of Immersive Effect

Figure 18 Distinct Views in Vertical

Figure 19 Illustration of the Gallery of Views

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