"The Poetry Garden" by Siah Armajani Author(S): Lisa Lyons Source: Design Quarterly, No

Home , Siah Armajani

"The Poetry Garden" by Siah Armajani Author(s): Lisa Lyons Source: Design Quarterly, No. 160, "The Poetry Garden" by Siah Armajani (1994), pp. 8-30 Published by: Walker Art Center Ot

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Lisa Lyons

In April 1989 Lannan Foundation moved into its new headquarters. Reno- vation of the modernist structure designed in 1968 by Los Angeles architect William Krisel for Feuer Corporation, an air systems assembly company, was far from complete. The offices were habitable, but it would Rene Magritte be more than a year before La chambre d 'e.oute 1952 The Menil Collection, Houston the rest of the interior including the foundation's Thereis anotherworld inside this one exhibition galleries, art Mulling over this plan, I no words,can describeit. storage spaces and libraries conjured up a granite plaza would be finished. with a bit of greenery Thereis living, but nofear of death; Landscaping of the site around the perimeter and Thereis Spring, but nevera turn to Autumn. had yet to begin, and a then mentally craned a sin- courtyard on the east side gle monumental sculpture Thereare legendsand stories of the property was still into the space. There it comingfromthe walls and ceilings. undeveloped.2 stood, straining against the courtyard walls, bringing to Even the rocksand treesrecite poetry. On early renovation plans, mind that Magritte paint- the roughly 50 x 70-foot ing in which an apple has courtyard was labeled grown to fill an entire from A WorldInside This World, "Sculpture Garden," but by the 13th-centtury room. meant Sufi poetJallaltuddiri Ruini ' precisely what that had not been defined There was something per- when we settled into the versely appealing about offices. Feeling that we this surrealistic tableau, but needed to study the space, the novelty of such an we spruced up the dusty installation would quickly lot with a patch of sod sur- wear thin. And in any case, rounded by a path of we were heading into decomposed granite. In summer and each day as the weeks to follow we the sun rose in the sky, the spent a lot of time peering temperature within the out the office windows into courtyard rose as well. the "garden," and pacing Surely trees were needed around and across the for shade; but an arbor lawn, talking about how it large enough to significant- could best be used. ly lower the temperature and blinding mid-day light We contemplated various level in the courtyard scenarios. The space could would leave little room for be an outdoor gallery for sculptures, not to mention exhibitions of large-scale the seating and ancillary sculptures. To provide plantings necessary to cre- maximum flexibility, the ate an inviting garden. courtyard would have to be The space was simply too as open as possible. small.

9 Lannan Foundation

We peered, we paced, we tures look like meteors that or a burrito or to grab a Poetry Association for thought some more. We have landed plop! from Snickers bar to be eaten more than 30 years. wondered: did the world outer space onto stark, De back at a desk. Through the grant pro- need another sculpture Chiricoesque plazas. grams that have been insti- We began to think about garden? I like art, I like the tuted since Mr. Lannan's Perhaps the world didn't the courtyard as a kind of outdoors, but I have to death, the foundation now need another sculpture vest-pocket park, a lunch admit that I've always supports not only muse- garden after all, but a gar- and coffee-break haven for found art and the outdoors ums, university galleries den of some kind still our nine-to-five neighbors, to be a tricky combination. and alternative spaces, but seemed like a good idea, and a place for our gallery The examples of successful also writers and literary especially given the foun- visitors to contemplate sculpture gardens are few, organizations. dation's location in an the exhibitions or to read and the best of these are industrial office park a catalogue or brochure. A new plan blossomed: not modestly scaled sites between Marina del Rey A place to sit and talk and Lannan would commission like the Lannan courtyard, and Los Angeles Inter- read. an artist to design a garden but expansive parks. The national Airport. A subur- that embodied the founda- worst of them ... well, the Reading. That was the key. ban neighborhood of non- tion's commitment to both worst of them seem to fall Although best known as a descript warehouses and art and literature. The into two categories: there visual arts organization, by boxy, tilt-up structures Poetry Garden, as we began are those in which the 1989 Lannan Foundation occupied by a variety of to call it, would serve as a sculptures look like captive had begun to develop a businesses, the area is retreat for our gallery visi- specimens that have been reputation for its sponsor- pleasant enough. When we tors and neighbors, and it forcibly removed from ship of contemporary liter- moved into the building, would be the site of literary their natural habitats and ature as well. In fact, litera- however, there were few events as well. set into artificial environ- ture had always been a pas- public amenities-no ments imbued with all the sion of the late J. Patrick The choice of an artist to green spaces and no restau- terminally cute charms of a Lannan, who established design such a space rants, save the "roach petting zoo; and there are the foundation in 1960. seemed obvious. As one of coaches," rolling kitchens those in which the sculp- In addition to assembling the most highly regarded like Steve's Stove that pull an extensive collection creators and theorists of up throughout the day on of contemporary art that public art in America, and I Published in Jonathan Star and street corners and parking Shahram Shiva, A GardenBeyond Paradise: was to become the basis as a man with a deep and lots, attracting a loyal clien- The MysticalPoetry of Rumi (New York: of our exhibition program abiding interest in litera- Bantam Books, 1992), p 144. tele of hungry workers who 2 The master plan for the building reno- in Los Angeles, he was a ture, Siah Armajani was vation was developed by Miami, Florida queue up to order a burger architect Mark Hampton in consultation major benefactor of Poetry uniquely qualified for the with William Krisel. The courtyard was magazine and chairman of job. created by erecting tall walls around a the board of The Modern parking lot abutting the building. * *0

10 Siah Armajani is a pioneer is a modest man who shuns man, he had studied at a recalls. "I was seven or among those contempo- the spotlight and who Presbyterian missionary eight years old, and he rary artists who have devot- firmly believes that " . . . in school where most of the gave me a gigantic number ed themselves almost exclu- public art, there is no teachers were American, 12 brush and a well of ink sively to undertaking pro- room for focus on the ego. and he developed an admi- and told me to draw minia- jects in public spaces. You have to get lost in the ration for the United States tures, which was, of course, Indeed, in his work of the context of the work."5 that he passed on to his impossible. Then he told past two decades, he has children.6 me that I had absolutely no A populist in outlook and helped to redefine the very talent whatsoever and that practice, given his druthers Although his family prac- concept of public art. he had agreed to take me at lunchtime Armajani will ticed Christianity, and Armajani has little interest on only out of respect for often opt for McDonald's, Armajani and his siblings in producing monumental my father." declaring the fast-food fare sculptures; rather, he cre- were steeped in Western to be, to use his favorite ates works that he describes ways at the local missionary In high school Armajani expression of as "low, common and near enthusiasm, school, they were also developed an interest in "fantastic, honest!" to the people."3 Among his That's involved in the traditional politics, and like many of not to say that projects are a lecture hall Armajani is Islamic culture of Iran.7 his fellow students he was an in Philadelphia, a band- unsophisticated man or Armajani recalls his family ardently opposed to the is in any way stand in Mitchell, South lacking in home as a comfortable, Shah and his corrupt social graces. A Dakota, pedestrian bridges charming book-filled environment regime. His political beliefs individual, in Minneapolis and who projects a where his father read were also shaped by read- kind of old-world Stuttgart, and a waterfront civility, Persian poems-particular- ing Western philosophy, he is a warm promenade in lower and generous ly those of the great Sufi particularly the writings of host, no doubt a reflection Manhattan. "I am interest- mystics-to the children the great thinkers of the of his upbringing in Iran ed in the nobility of useful- every evening. "Poets are German school, Hegel, where the ness," he has said. "My rituals of hospi- venerated in Persian cul- Nietzsche and Heidegger. tality have been developed ture," Armajani told me intention is to build open, In 1960 into something of an art recently. "Let's say two men Armajani's family available, useful, common, sent him to form. Visitors to his studio are having an argument. study at Macal- public gathering places. aster are inevitably met with A third man comes along College, a small liber- Gathering places that are al-arts school in offers of coffee and tea; and is asked his opinion. Saint Paul neighborly. They are not where his uncle and a plate carefully laid in He replies, 'As the poet Yahya was conceived in terms of wood a history professor. He advance of his guests' says. .. ,' and that finishes and steel but in terms of majored in arrival with pastries, cook- it off. It's settled. The poets philosophy and their nature as places at minored in pure ies or chocolates is brought always have the truth. You mathe- hand, ready to be used."4 matics. As a out from the back room. know, in Iran, poets were child, Arma- jani had been In one of life's little To refuse to partake of the the only ones who were instilled by his father with a ironies, the designer of sweets is to be barraged by allowed to voice political reverence some of the most successful a good-natured onslaught and social protest. If you public spaces produced in of polite protestations: expressed yourself in 3 Siah Armajani in a public discussion the late 20th century is an "They are wonderful, hon- prose, you got arrested. with Cesar Pelli at the San Francisco extremely private man. est! Please, you should try. If you expressed yourself Museum of Modern Art, 22January 1986. (A notable exception to Armajani's Armajani lives with his wife Are you sure? Go on. You'll in poetry, no one would preference for the low, is his recently Barbara in a quiet neigh- have some? Fantastic!" touch you." unveiled design for the majestic structure that borhood in Saint Paul, will house the Olympic flame at The third of four children, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. It Minnesota, and works Armajani says that he features a 132-foot-tall tower surmounted Armajani was by a 16-foot-high cauldron. The tower across the Mississippi River born and always knew he was going raised in Tehran. His to will be connected to the top level of the on the northern edge of be an artist. As a child Olympic stadium by a 190-foot-long Khan bridge.) downtown Minneapolis in father, Aga Armajani, he spent six months study- was a successful merchant. 4 Ibid. an unprepossessing building painting and calligra- 5 The artist, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, A learned and genteel phy with a strict, humorless "Profiles-Siah Armajani-Open, ing that formerly housed a Available, Useful," TheNezv Yorker, laminating company. His instructor who whacked 19 March 1990, p 49. (N.B.: Tomkins' him on the knuckles with a article provides considerable bio- enthusiasm for art is graphical information on the artist and boundless, but he has little ruler whenever he made a valuable insight into the development mistake. ";Hewas a miser- of his philosophy.) interest in the social side of 6 Tomkins, p 51. the international art world able human being who 7 Ibid. in which he is an increas- hated children," Armajani ingly respected figure. He

11 for American democracy; Armajani developed his now he embraced Mid- ideas in the classrooms of western populist thinking, the Minneapolis College of taking as one of his heroes Art and Design, where he Hubert Humphrey, who taught from 1968 until had taught at Macalaster 1974. He quickly earned a and was a good friend of reputation as a charismatic his uncle.8 speaker, and his lectures, extended discourses on intention to Armajani's topics ranging from art become an artist persisted. and architecture to anti- After graduating from col- authoritarian politics and lege in the spring of 1963, philosophy, peppered with he rented a loft in down- Sufi parables and poems, town Minneapolis where were packed with eager stu- he continued to work on a dents. series of "poem paintings" that he had begun at Meanwhile, back in the stu- Macalaster: large white can- dio, Armajani was design- vases completely covered ing crudely carpentered with lines of Persian poetry sculptures that reflected inscribed in black ink. He his interests in architecture also spent time in the com- and Conceptualism. puter lab at the University Among his earliest mature of Minnesota where he works was First Bridge, 1968. experimented with numeri- Developed as a table-top cal progressions and con- model and then built to North Dakota Tower 1968 ceptual projects, many of full scale in a field in White ink on paper which reveal Armajani's Bear Lake, a small town 20 Collection of the artist delightfully absurdist sense miles north of Saint Paul, of humor. For example, he the 125-foot-long covered designed a tower that wooden bridge was intend- would cast a 360-mile-long ed to give literal, physical shadow, across the entire form to an otherwise strict- state of North Dakota. The ly visual, perceptual phe- tower would be 18 miles nomenon. When you stand high and its tip would be at one end of a covered two miles in diameter. bridge, the far end always looks smaller. But the far White~~Bea Lae MinnEsota w In 1967 Armajani became a wood _ end of First Bridge actually painte United States citizen. To was smaller. The bridge's get a better understanding height gradually dimin- of how his new homeland ished along the span's had developed, he length from 10 to four feet, immersed himself in the a fact that was not evident (destBroyd)e16 study of American building until unsuspecting viewers styles from simple log cab- walked halfway across the ins to ThomasJefferson's bridge and grazed their sophisticated designs for heads on the roof beams. Monticello.9 He hoped to use vernacular American architecture as the point of departure for a socially 8 Ibid, p 53. relevant art, like that of the 9 Ibid, p 55. early-20th-century Russian Constructivists El Lissitzky, Aleksandr Rodchenko and Vladimir Tatlin whose efforts he greatly admired.

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-L7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- _ _X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~''`--%.-..K3F Houses were also part of the usefulness of an object Armajani's early sculptural that I become acquainted repertoire, and he pursued with it. This usefulness can his conceptual investiga- be functional, or perceptu- tions in models whose al, or spiritual. It can pro- walls, ceilings, floors, win- voke ideas without being dows and doors occupied functional."10 unexpected positions and Armajani continued his met at odd angles. In forays into the conceptual essence, Armajani was no man's land between "deconstructing" the pla- formalism and functional- tonic American house, ism for nearly a decade by examining its individual examining the architecture elements and reconfigur- of Everyman in a series of ing them in an attempt to House with Base (model) 1969 nearly two thousand works stained balsa decipher what was peculiar- begun in 1974 that he Private collection ly American about it. Oc- refers to collectively as the casionally, however, foreign Dictionaryfor Building. influences crashed the Executed first as small domestic gates of Arma- cardboard models, many of jani's houses, creating curi- which he later developed ous, hybrid structures in as freestanding sculptures which the ghosts of the fabricated of such standard Russian revolution en- building materials as paint- counter the spirit of the ed wood, corrugated steel, ijir American industrial revolu- stamped aluminum and tion. With its narrow lath glass, each is a study of an walls and precipitously element of furniture or sloping roof, House #5, for domestic architecture, pre- example, suggests a corn sented alone or in relation crib designed by a Con- to other elements to repre- structivist, fused with a sent a spectrum of spatial Dictionaryfor Building 1974-75 lean-to dwelling of the kind cardboard and balsa conditions. The series commonly found in 19th- Courtesy of Max Protetch Gallery begins with fairly simple, century Pennsylvania min- straightforward pieces like ing communities. Other Open Door- ClosedDoor, models are only provision- moves on to more elabo- ally houses. A trussed, win- rate constructions, among dowless and doorless struc- them Closet Under Landing ture supported by four slat- and Basement Window Under ted cubes resembling farm Front Door Steps, and culmi- animal pens, House with nates in 1985 in the expan- Base looks more like a rail- sive Back Porch with Picnic road trestle, or the cattle Table,a fanciful interpreta- car that might pass over it, tion of a traditional Mid- than any human habita- western screened room. tion. When asked how these virtually impenetra- ble structures with squared 10 The artist, quoted in Tomkins, p 59. his notion of an open, available and useful art, Armajani replied, "It is always through the idea of

Back Porchwith Picnic Table 1985 maple, cedar and pine witb paint, stain, bronze aluminum screen Collection of Lannan Foundation

14 Such references were likely Garden #3, constructed on lost on anyone not familiar a campus meadow at the with Armajani's agenda, State University of New and the artist for his part York at Purchase in 1980, acknowledges that his and again in OfficeforFour, pieces of this period "did commissioned by the not provoke people Hudson River Museum in enough." Hoping, as he 1981, he chose the words says, "to embrace viewers," of Ralph Waldo Emerson: in 1980 he began to incor- BEAUTY MUST COME BACK porate texts in his works. TO THE USEFUL ARTS, THE The decision was brilliant, DISTINCTION BETWEEN if not altogether surprising. THE FINE AND THE USEFUL "That is absolutely the ARTS MUST BE FORGOTTEN. influence of Persia, IF HISTORY WERE TRULY absolutely," Armajani says, TOLD, IF LIFE WERE NOBLY referring to the centuries- SPENT, IT WOULD NO old Persian architectural LONGER BE EASY OR POSSI- convention of decorating BLE TO DISTINGUISH THE buildings with quotations ONE FROM THE OTHER. For from the Koran. Of course, the Louis Kahn LectureRoom his use of texts is also a at the Samuel S. Fleischer reflection of the reverence Art Memorial in Philadel- for poetry he learned at phia, it was Walt Whitman: his father's knee in Tehran WHEN THE MATERIALS and which he expressed in ARE PREPARED AND READY, his early poem paintings. THE ARCHITECTS SHALL APPEAR. THE GREATEST Texts figure prominently AMONG THEM SHALL BE HE in the public projects that WHO BEST KNOWS YOU, have occupied Armajani AND ENCLOSES ALL AND IS since the early 1980s and FAITHFUL TO ALL. HE with which he has achieved AND THE REST SHALL NOT ThomasJefferson'sHouse: WestWing, his vision of an open, avail- FORGET YOU, THEY SHALL SunsetHouse 1977 able, useful art. Some, like wood, corrugated steel, shingles, PERCEIVE THAT YOU the John Dewey quotation enamel paint ARE NOT AN IOTA LESS stenciled in capital letters Installation at Walker Art Center THAN THEY, YOU SHALL BE high on the back wall of GLORIFIED IN THEM. a three-sided pavilion in At the same time that he (often subverted) function Armajani's 1980 Meeting Whatever their subject, began his index of art and of the architectural ele- Garden, are secular warn- the quotes that grace architectural possibilities, ments, but to their individ- ings expressed with the Armajani's public works Armajani was designing ual forms. For Armajani, solemnities of biblical inevitably take on the quali- house-sized sculptures the non-hierarchical prophecy: AS LONG AS ART ty of greetings, welcoming based onJefferson's plans nature of the structure, IS THE BEAUTY PARLOR gestures extended to users for Monticello. Among each of whose elements OF CIVILIZATION, NEITHER of the sites. And reverberat- these was ThomasJefferson's was given equal impor- ART NOR CIVILIZATION IS ing in the mind, they House: WestWing Sunset tance, was an allusion to SECURE. More often, how- infuse the visitors' experi- House. Viewers entering the principles ofJeffer- ever, the quotes Armajani ence with special meaning. this sprawling structure sonian democracy. selects are more celebra- became participants in an tory than cautionary, and environment where the in tune with his populist eccentric positioning of philosophy, many extol walls and windows, stair- the transcendent beauty cases and ceilings directed and intelligence of the attention not only to the commonplace. For Reading

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Lewis)town, _NewS Yo2rk S' Pilad elphia This is nowhere more to the town, with an ironic clearly evident than at the tip of the hat to Whitman's 3.5-acre waterfront plaza of Leaves of Grass:"One need the World Financial Center never leave the confines of in lower Manhattan. De- New York to get all that signed by Armajani in col- one wishes-I can't even laboration with the late enjoy a blade of grass sculptor Scott Burton, unless I know there's a sub- architect Cesar Pelli and way handy or a record store landscape architect M. Paul or some other sign that Friedberg, the plaza is people do not totally regret among the most successful life." The words activate efforts in public art of this the space and the imagina- century, although, as critic tion. Reading them aloud, Ken Johnson has noted, as visitors often do, you much of its aesthetic might feel yourself a player character exists below the in an urban drama. perceptual threshold of a Through the simple act vision attuned to more tra- of reading, you become a ditional public-art expecta- participant in the scene, tions. "'II not merely a witness to it. The heart of the project is *0 * a seating area. Resting there on Burton-designed, It was September 7, 1989, granite settees, visitors sur- and Siah Armajani had just vey a splendid metropoli- arrived in Los Angeles to tan/maritime spectacle: to inspect the courtyard at the east loom the towers of Lannan Foundation for the the World Financial Cen- first time. I thought he ter; to the west is a private would like the site, but he yacht harbor, beyond might not. So I steeled which ships sail the Hud- myself as I showed him to son. Arcing along the the door that leads outside waterfront is an Armajani- from the galleries, and I designed railing in which waited for his reaction. two quotes, spelled out in Armajani had barely made polished bronze letters, it under the transom when narrate the scene. At the he exclaimed: "It's a God- south end is Walt Whit- given space!" And then he man's delirious, "yawping" made a beeline for the far tribute to Manhattan: "City wall. of the world (for all races are here, all the hands of "It's a wonderful space. the earth make contribu- It needs very little. It is WorldFinancial Center 1989 Cesar Pelli & Associates, architects tions here;) City of the Sea! almost finished, honest!" M. Paul Friedberg & Partners, landscape architects City of wharves and stores Armajani called out, as he Siah Armajani, Scott Burton, artists -city of tall facades of walked excitedly around New York marble and iron: Proud the empty courtyard. He and passionate city-met- carefully paced off the dis- tlesome, mad, extravagant tance between the walls, city!" To the north, Frank then said, "Okay, I am O'Hara pays his decidedly done. Now we can go more plainspoken homage inside." "Go inside? Don't you want

11 KenJohnson, "Poetry & Public to spend some more time Service," Art in America,March 1990, out here, Siah?" I asked. p 162. (N.B.: Johnson's article provides an excellent analysis of the plaza.)

19 He replied that he had session, the gist of which The site is a semi-open,near tion as a kind of landmarkfor seen enough for now. I was I recounted in a letter writ- rectanglemeasuring roughly the building. On thepractical relieved that he liked the ten to Laurence I. Shop- 48 x 68 feet, with an addi- side-the gate must be opera- courtyard, but was dis- maker, then director of tional dogleg area extending ble and be up to code (we have mayed that he had flown Max Protetch Gallery, laterallyalong thefounda- provided Siah with a list of across the country only to Armajani's representative. tion's building. Thereare two coderegulations). Weview the spend a few minutes look- This letter defined the con- points of public access to the gate as an integralpart of the ing at it. Then I remem- ceptual basis of our com- space: at thejunction of the garden design, and not as an bered something that mission agreement with two tall walls that shield the "add on." Armajani had told me ear- the artist, and for that rea- sitefrom the street,and A podium: lier: "I rarely visit sites son, I think it worthwhile through the building lobby.... The space should include a because I do not see things to print it here virtually in The program- podium on which readerscan three-dimensionally. I pre- its entirety: general comments: place their materials. This fer to look at photographs Weview the poetrygarden as podium could befixed or move- and plans. I see nothing. a space that will have two able-but it should be a sculp- You know, I was in Amster- Dear Larry, functions. First and most tural/functional element dam for 10 days installing important of all, it should be designed by the artist. It must an exhibition of my work at As we have discussed by and I at designed as a space include a light, since some of the Stedelijk, and each day phone, my colleagues specifically to be usedfor public readings our readings will takeplace at I took the same route from Lannan Foundation are eager bypoets and otherwriters. night. On a relatedmatter- the hotel to the museum. to move ahead on commission- (It is conceivablethat the space we will explorethe require- Scott Burton came to ing Siah to produce a "poetry will also be usedfor otherpub- ments of a sound systemfor Amsterdam for the open- garden "for our building .... lic gatherings including lec- the area. At this stage, we do ing, and as we walked At the time of Siah's visit here, tures, symposiaand music per- not know if thepodium design together to the museum, we had not defined a formal formances. Weview theselat- will have to include a micro- he said to me, 'Siah, isn't design programfor the garden, ter events as secondary,and phone. that housing complex and to be honest, our thoughts do not expectSiah's design "to remarkable?' I asked him, Seating: about theproject are still in the be all thingsfor all people.") 'What housing complex?' formative stages. Wefeel com- The space should contain a He stopped, looked at me fortable workingin a collabo- The vast majorityof the time, certain degreeoffixed seating like I was crazy and pointed rative manner with Siah on the garden will not be usedfor elementsof the artist's own to the buildings not more the developmentof the space. readings. When thefounda- design, and should also than five feet from where That said, let me tell you a bit tion's galleries are open to the accommodatethe addition of we were standing. I had about the basics of the space, public ... the garden must otherseatingfor those times passed them every day for and give you a long, rambling function as a place whereour when public readings are 10 days, but I had never account of the notions that we visitors may sit, rest, contem- scheduled.At this point, we seen them." discussed with Siah .... plate, read. Therefore,the are not certain how large our space should have a certain audiences will befor these Armajani and I walked The site: Thefoundation integrityand beautyall its events, but suggest that Siah inside. We would return to building a two-story,grey own. It should never appear to considerdeveloping (fixed) the courtyard later in the stucco, concreteand glass be merelyan emptytheater seating to accommodate50 day-and we would send structure occupiesa site on the awaiting the arrival of an people in the space. The him home with numerous southwestcorner of McConnell audience. It should be a pleas- additional seating could be of photographs and plans; in Avenue and Coral TreePlace. ant and inviting place to be the artist's own design, or it the meantime, there was The site for the garden is locat- even when "nothingis going could be seating that is com- much to discuss. My col- ed at the northeast corner of on. merciallyavailable .... But leagues and I spent the day the It is property. boundedon whateverits origin, the seating talking with Armajani one side the The program- by building, and should appear to have been about the garden and how on the otherthree stucco some specifications: by selectedespecially for the space. it might be used."2It was an walls-those on the Here are some of the more streetsides It is imperativethat this addi- exhilarating brainstorming are 24' the important notions that we roughly high, tional seating be comfortable, wall the discussed with Siah: separating garden easilyportable and easily from the employeeparking lot 12 Development of the garden program A gate: stored. is roughly 8' high. was a collaborative effort that involved We asked Siah to design a gate the participation of the foundation's Surfacesand landscaping: for the streetentrance to the presidentJ. Patrick Lannan,Jr.; Barbara We are asking the artist to A. Dalderis, the foundation's vice garden. Although we do not president and treasurer; Meghan Ferrill, design thefloor surfaces and who was then director of the founda- want the gate to bear thefoun- tion's literary programs; the author dation name, it shouldfunc- and the artist. 's

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...... -. .. landscapingfor the space. We incorporatein his design some design elements that we be enlisted along the way will, of course, assist him with literaryreferences. Conceiv- asked Armajani to pack were to serve as consultants the selectionof appropriate ably, quotes could be incorpo- into the small space, it's to, rather than as collabo- materials, but the overall rated into the gate, podium, remarkable that he agreed rators with, the artist. design should be his. Weenvi- seating or othersculptural ele- to accept the job. Armajani had worked in sion thefloor of the garden to ments of the design, and possi- Moreover, at the time that this way with excellent be a combinationof hard and bly applied to the existing we approached him about results on two large com- soft surfaces. Weimagine that walls and/or embeddedin the the garden commission, missions in Minnesota: the a largeportion of the space gardenfloor. Weare open to Armajani had become disil- Irene Hixon WhitneyBridge, could be surfaced in stone or Siah's thoughts on the selec- lusioned with public art a magnificent 456-foot-long tile (particularlyto accommo- tion of the literarythemes, but projects that involve collab- pedestrian bridge that tra- date theplacement of seating would like to workwith him oration. "The idea of a verses a 16-lane highway for readings), and that a por- on thefinal choiceof these. We design team just doesn't between the Minneapolis tion of it could beplanted with are open, as well, to the idea of work," he told Calvin Sculpture Garden and grass, anotherground cover, commissioninga writerto pro- Tomkins in the spring of Loring Park; and Covered and flowers. Weare open to duce a poem specificallyto be 1989 after having complet- a planting a treeor treesin the incorporatedinto the design of Walkway, 695-foot-long ed the World Financial steel, wood and space and to plantings that the garden. glass struc- Center Plaza. "Cesar and ture commissioned by would coverportions of the Misc.: Scotty and I went through General Mills to shelter walls. Unless it can be shown Although L.A. 's weatheris a lot together, and we as make to be absolutelyessential to the employees they lovely most of theyear; the late came to understand each the trek between their design, we would prefernot afternoon and evening hours other very well, but the offices and the changing the grey colorof the distant during the winter can be cool. kind of design team that parking lots. The success of walls. Colorfulplantings For readings held at those just gets together around a these works is due in climbing the walls are not out good times, we will probablywant to table is like a situation of the question, however measure to the fact that provide some space heaters- comedy. It's cynical and un- Armajani held control over We would like the landscaping most likely the kind of portable productive. Genuine their design and fabrica- of the garden to tie into the braziersused on restaurant debate can't take place tion. The effects of that exteriorlandscaping of the terraceshere. The garden around a table that way .... control are subtle, but pow- building. In fact, this "green design should allowfor the The whole emphasis in erful. Strolling through belt"that runs along the placement of these.... And most of those projects is on these long passageways, Coral Treeand McConnell on a gustatory note: we talked who can get along best you soon become aware of sides of the building compris- with Siah about including in with the others involved- the abundance of carefully ing several large eucalyptus his design, or at the very least at the expense of vision considered details that treesand a ground coverof allowing spacefor a large table and fresh thinking."'3 characterize virtually every mondo grass, should be viewed wherethe proverbial wine and aspect of their construction We recognized that taking as an extension of the garden cheesereception stuff could be and that make them work a collaborative approach site. The trees-which Siah placed. as art-and as something to the design of a space as liked quite a lot-are perma- far richer than design. Larry, we talked with Siah small as the Lannan court- nent elements. The mondo Without a whiff of about a great many other yard was neither necessary grass, if not compatiblewith pompous individuality, issues ... but I think I've cov- nor altogether desirable. Siah's vision of the garden the bridge and walkway ered all the important issues It was agreed, therefore, landscaping, can be replaced each manage to convey here.I trust that on the basis that once we had devel- and/or bolsteredby otherplant the artist's intentions and of theforegoing you will be oped the program for the materials. sensibility to a degree able to draw up an agreement space, it was Armajani's rarely found in public art Lighting: to coverour workingrelation- vision of the program that works of this scale and Lighting will have to be built ship on this project.... would be pursued; every- complexity. into the space to accommodate one else involved in the I had fancied Lannan readings held at night, and of project would support and Following his initial trip to Foundation to be a model course,for aestheticand secu- facilitate the realization of Los Angeles, Armajani client and the courtyard ritypurposes. that vision. Consequently, spent several commission to be some- months devel- the architect, the land- a Themes: thing of a plum. However, oping plan for the scape architect and the Lannan courtyard. Congruent with the garden's considering the various When I others whose talents would visited his studio in use, we are asking the artist to uses we felt the garden the spring of 1990, he was busy should accommodate, and

the numerous ideas and 13 The artist, quoted in Tomkins, p 71.

22 IreneHixon WlhitneyBridge 1988 Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

23 at work on a scale model of ers had called. Was he try- the garden. Far from being ing to clean out their stock a slickly crafted maquette, and go into competition it was a rough-and-ready with them? affair with an energetic, In one corner of the model collage-like quality reminis- stood what appeared to be cent of the models for his a group of miniature wood- earliest Dictionaryfor en barrels, their surfaces Building pieces. Painted roughly painted in lumi- plywood panels served as nous shades of blue and the courtyard walls, within green accented by daubs of which Armajani had begun white. I had never seen to describe the garden ele- anything quite like them in ments with the kinds of Armajani's work before simple materials children and I must have looked use to construct the layouts perplexed, because he said, for model trains: there "Those will be large ceram- were balsa wood benches, ic jars. They are there artificial turf lawns, and because that corner needs dried weed trees rising a bright spot of color." I from sand-strewn wells bor- leaned over the model to dered by courses of tiny get a closer look at the bricks. He had been shop- makeshift jars. It was then ping, Armajani told me, at that I noticed a narrow a wonderful store: Debbie's band of text running atop Doll House. In fact, he had the high-backed benches run up such a bill there and chairs that lined the buying materials to be garden walls. By way of fur- incorporated into a new ther explanation, Armajani series of models and relat- handed me a sheet of ed wall pieces that the own- graph paper on which he had typed:

ANECDOTEOF THE JAR BY WALLACESTEVENS

I PLACED A JAR IN TENNESSEE, I Ir AND ROUNDIT WAS, UPON A HILL. IT MADETHE SLOVENLYWILDERNESS SURROUNDTHAT HILL.

THE WILDERNESSROSE UP TO IT, AND SPRAWLEDAROUND, NO LONGERWILD. CoveredWalkway THE JAR WAS ROUNDUPON THE GROUND Minneapolis General Mills, AND TALL AND OF A PORT IN AIR.

IT TOOK DOMINIONEVERYWHERE. THE JAR WAS GRAY AND BARE. IT DID NOT GIVE OF BIRD OR BUSH, LIKE NOTHINGELSE IN TENNESSEE. 14

14 Wallace Stevens, "Anecdote of the Jar,"The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens (New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1973), p 76.

24 I was delighted that Arma- rest of the crew were gath- whose T-shirt read, "Save Sitting in The Poetry Garden jani had selected one of ered in Los Angeles by Water, Plant a Rock." He recently, I thought back to the late American writer's Lannan.15 was singularly impressed Armajani's initial reaction best-known poems as the that the three of us had to the courtyard, as "a God- According to the terms of garden text, for it is an elo- come from different parts given space." As a resident the commission agree- quent description of the of the country ". . just to of a city where "fabulous" ment, as client, Lannan transformative power of pick out a rock." I showed and "genius" are terms Foundation was to have a art. I hoped my colleagues Richard a photo of Arma- used with such frequency say in any significant would share my enthusiasm jani's garden model and in conversation that they changes to the approved for the verse. "Don't explained that the boulder have all but lost their plan. And with Armajani's worry," Armajani assured was an important sculptur- meaning, I have become studio so far from the site, me. "Everyone will agree al element in the artist's inured to hyperbole. we came to be the guard- that Wallace Stevens is a design. Richard nodded Consequently, at the time ians of the integrity of his poet. No one can argue approvingly. "If you find I thought that by "God- vision. From time to time, about that." I laughed at one you like, and I think given" Armajani simply we were asked by various the blunt simplicity-and you will," he said, "I'm meant that he liked the site subcontractors and consul- marveled at the genius- going to have to deliver it and could imagine work- tants involved in the pro- of Armajani's logic. myself, because this doesn't ing in it. In retrospect, I ject for authorization to look like an ordinary con- understand that he meant In the Fall, the completed deviate from Armajani's struction job." We were in precisely what he said. For model and a set of plans plan in one way or another, good hands. stepping into the court- were shipped to Los but to these requests, the yard, Armajani found him- Angeles for review by the reply was always that Arma- self in a site with a combi- foundation staff and board jani would need to be con- nation of spatial and stylis- of directors. The design sulted. This was, after all, not tic conditions so perfectly was unanimously approved. an ordinary construction suited to his sensibility that Armajani's intuition had project, but a work of art. it must have seemed, to been right: Stevens' poem It was a fact that we were all pursue his metaphor, heav- proved to be the perfect reminded of frequently en-sent. What he saw in the common ground from during the 16 months that courtyard was paradise, or which a decidedly uncom- The Poetry Gardenwas under more accurately, a mod- mon garden would grow. construction, but perhaps ernist turn on the rudi- ments of a classic Islamic *0 * no more so than one afternoon in October 1991 paradise garden. when I found myself along Armajani and the founda- This type of high-walled with Armajani and Robert tion worked together to enclosure, frequently Qualheim of FS Ltd, stand- assemble the garden pro- depicted in Persian minia- ing in a dusty field at the ject team. He brought on tures of which Armajani is base of the foothills of San board two groups who had Richard assured us that as a connoisseur, had its ori- Marcos, California. We assisted him in the past: boulder fields go, KRC's lot gins in ancient Mesopo- were boulder shopping. Fabrication Specialties, was something of a gold tamia. There, in the desert Limited (FS Ltd), a Seattle- Armajani's design for the mine. And indeed, within territories stretching from based company with con- gate to The Poetry Garden an hour or so we had North Africa to the valleys siderable expertise in con- featured a boulder at its tagged some promising of the Euphrates, settled structing public art works, center, and through some specimens, although none communities grew plants was engaged to craft and research, we had learned was quite right. Then, as we for crops. Surrounded by install the Armajani- that San Marcos was the scrambled over a pile of walls to give protection designed garden gate, boulder capital of South- recently delivered stock- from marauders and desert podium and seating, and to ern California. So there we boulders that had rolled winds, these early gardens assist with site-planning; were, searching for a stone down the hill adjacent to were primarily utilitarian, Mary Swarthout and her the size of a Volkswagen the field a few weeks ago- although their fruit trees, partners at Continental with the help of Richard, a we spied our quarry: a five- herbs and medicinal Clay, Minneapolis, were salesman from KRC Rock ton chunk of blue granite. plants, laid out in symmet- commissioned to produce "Fantastic," Armajani said rical rows for ease of irriga- the ceramic elements. The in a half-whisper, "it looks tion, also possessed a deco- 15 A complete list of individuals and just like the one in the rative aspect. As garden his- companies involved in the project appears on p 31. model. Honest!"

*0*0

25 lF J

XN I | I | ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...... deep knowledge of flowers (quercusagrifolia) and a 25- and trees to produce foot sweet shade (hymenof- exquisite compositions.20 porumflavum) whose summer blossoms emit a subtle, In several respects, Arma- apricot fragrance. jani's Poetry Gardenis heir to this ancient tradition. The Poetry Gardenplan is Just how much so can be quadripartite: four polygo- understood by comparing nal plots of grass shaded by its plan with that of a four dwarf maples-two garden depicted in a acerpalmatum, one acer san- miniature illustrating the gukaken and a stunning acer I I'W. 15th-century poem, bloodgoodwhose delicate The Halnamah. Painted in limbs are aflame with bril- 1603-04 for the future liant, crimson color-are EmperorJahangir, the set within an acid-washed Illustration for TheHalnamah 1603-04 miniature shows a classic aggregate plaza stippled Collection of the Biblioteque Nationale paradise garden, enclosed with black, white and rose Paris behind high walls and agate chips. The shimmer- accessed through an ing bits of colored stone torian Penelope Hobhouse botanic scholarship, from imposing gateway. At its give the plaza floor the notes, these gardens about the eighth century center the four rivers of life look of a pebble-strewn emphasized the contrast forward the Islamic garden meet at a square basin sur- riverbed and lend the between two separate was developed as an earthly rounded by sunken flower entire space a decorative worlds: ". . . the outer one paradise, a premonition beds and shaded by trees. inflection that echoes the where nature remained of heaven for those who intricate surface patterning Like the courtyard depict- awe-inspiringly in control, heeded the words of the of the painted miniature. ed in the miniature, The and an inner, artificially- Prophet. Typically, paradise Poetry Gardenis a space No water flows in Arma- created sanctuary, a refuge gardens were divided into designed for solitary con- jani's eco-conscious Cali- for man and plants from quarters by four irrigation templation, social congress fornia garden, although its the burning desert heat, channels, representing the and enjoyment of litera- presence is evoked in the where shade trees and cool four rivers of life, which ture. Shielded from the canals refreshed the body met at a central basin. In outside world by walls and and the spirit and ensured later fourfold gardens, a entered through a tall por- 16 Penelope Hobhouse, Gardening growth. "16 stone platform (chabutra) 7'hroughthe Ages (New York:Simon & tal, the garden is planted Schuster, 1992), p 1 1. was often placed above the It was in the lands east of with beautiful flowers and 17 Ibid., p 18. intersection of the water 18 Ibid., p44. Mesopotamia, where the trees, including a majestic, 19 In this article, I have used the words channels to be used as a Medes and Achaemenians 35-foot California live oak 'garden' and 'courtyard' interchange- resting place for contem- ably. Strictly speaking, however, the established their civiliza- Islamic garden and courtyard are two plation or conversation, V tions from the ninth to the related, but different forms. A garden is for reading or for recita- typically composed of a large green area fourth centuries B.C., that surrounding a centrally located palace or tion of poetry."8 walled gardens were first pavilion. This is in contrast to a courtyard which is normally a smaller, more developed as the enclo- Over the next thousand densely developed space located within a sures to which the Persians or dwelling, palace, fort or mosque and years so, many fourfold bounded by an arcade. There are trees, gave the name paridaeza, gardens and courtyards flowers and sometimes grass in a garden; from which the English the surface of a courtyard is predomi- developed throughout nantly hard-marble, mosaic or stone- word 'paradise' is derived. Asia, Europe and Africa; although grass and trees are not exclud- Originally it simply meant also ed. Gardens are outer directed; that is, they influenced the main directional view designed to be an enclosure or park. The Spanish mission gardens taken by the occupant of a garden is Persian was translated into built in the from the central edifice outward. Court- western United yards, by contrast, are inner-directed Hebrew as pardes and into States.'9 But it was particu- spaces in which focus is invariably from Greek as in the peripheral arcade to the centrally paradeisos.'7 larly Safavid Persia, located pool or fountain. A courtyard is Andalusia and Mughal appreciated from its surrounding arcade, Enriched by Muslim teach- India that the Islamic gar- whereas people sit within a garden itself, ing and Koranic interpreta- or in the central pavilion, in order to den developed as a high enjoy it. For an exhaustive discussion of tion, and backed by serious art form in the subject, seeJonas Lehrman, Earthly which religious Paradise:Garden and Courtyardin Islam. teachings and poetic (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of imagery combined California Press, 1980). with a 20 Hobhouse, p 44.

27 observed: "Walking into a myriad of details drawn The Poetry Gardenis like from vernacular architec- walking into an orderly ture sources-from the public park in a small park-bench-green hue of Midwestern city. And, into the fence that encloses the a dynamic Russian Con- central garden, to the structivist stage set. And, standing-sawtooth, red- into the sequestered space brick borders that surround of a Persian miniature. the tree wells, to the seat- And, into the hand-hewn ing whose horizontal slats enclosure of a California of Alaskan cedar transform Mission courtyard. And the garden's stucco walls finally, into assorted other into vast expanses of clap- spaces whose vaguely famil- board. iar identities are not imme- Thoroughly American, too, diately apparent, but which is Wallace Stevens' poem, will likely reveal themselves The Anecdoteof theJar. Its 15 pairs of cerulean blue, over time. The garden's verse, however. The artist three stanzas are presented emerald green and white layered references peel clearly feels a kinship with in a single line of ceramic ceramic urns, stacked lip- back slowly, shifting subtle the poet himself, and rel- tile set into a metal chan- to-lip in one corner of the viewpoints like a Cubist ishes the fact that Stevens nel mounted atop the garden. Their silhouette collage.... Identifiable was "... . a'regularJoe' high-backed seating, and was inspired in part, Arma- sources in disparate cul- who made a living selling its imagery is pushed into jani says, by his memories tures remain distinct and insurance." He admires three dimensions in the of the huge, unglazed pot- identifiable; yet all have Stevens' wonderfully flat- tall, ceramic jars that stand tery urns that his mother been woven into a seamless footed American diction in the southeast corner of used to store dried beans whole that creates its own which, he says, provides the garden. The text is lit and rice, and by the ele- particular blend of pun- "ordinary folks" entree from above by standard gantly shaped water jugs gent flavors.... It's not to the unfamiliar world of outdoor fixtures that emit that lined the arcade walls difficult to recognize the poetry. "Poetry has not a yellow, candlelight glow of his childhood home. In aspiration for [this] lovely been allowed to play its during evening readings. place of the customary par- garden. It's a living meta- social function in adise garden canals and phor for the complex America," Armajani basin, we find four narrow observed in conversation proposition of American _S.A .'J. "For many years, pathways that lead to a rec- democracy. "21 recently. tangular flower bed dense- it has been thought of as ly planted with silver bush, Armajani has long champi- something alien and intel- sea pink, blue fescue, oned the notion that pub- lectual, something that ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-J lavender, iris and hibiscus. lic art should reflect belongs to 'ivory towers.' Enclosed by a low fence American ideals, and But poetry is being re-eval- surmounted by four indeed, in design and con- uated; now we are going lecterns in the shape of ception, The Poetry Garden back to it." open books from which embodies the lauded Armajani says that the sim- readings can be given, this virtues of the common plicity of Shaker design perfumed garden within a man, Yankee ingenuity, and the fellowship of garden is the heart of the small-scale industry and Quaker meeting houses space. It is the center of old-fashioned neighborli- with seats facing the room's focus for visitors who may ness. Stepping into the take a seat on one of the courtyard, one thinks of many high-backed arm- such archetypal American Armajani says that he likes 21 Christopher Knight, "A Metaphor gathering places as the vil- Grows in 'The Poetry Garden,' Los chairs and benches that the poem because it ".... line the courtyard walls. lage common, the town AngelesTimes, 23 March 1992, Section F, speaks to the dichotomy pp 1,7. hall and the little red that exists between an 22 AnnJarmusch, "Artist'senvironmen- The Poetry Gardenis much schoolhouse. These read- tal work aims to reunite people, art," more than a contemporary object of art and its envi- The San Diego Union-Tribune,12 April ings are underscored by 1992, p E9. gloss on a paradise garden, ronment. Our job is to rec- however. As the critic oncile these two polar- Christopher Knight has ities."22His appreciation of Stevens transcends his fondness for this single 28

center, inspired his deci- to his late friend and col- are single chairs for indi- sion to ring the garden laborator Scott Burton viduals, "love seats" that a with benches and arm- who used granite as his pri- couple might occupy, larg- chairs.23Yet, other influ- mary medium, Armajani er "sofas" for three or four ences are evident, particu- demurs. Nonetheless, the acquaintances, and long larly in the construction massive stone brings to benches for groups. Look- of the seating. Fabricated mind Burton's hulking, but ing at the seating, one of three-inch-thick slats of remarkably elegant, rock recalls that Armajani has clear Alaskan cedar set chairs of the early 1980s. described with sympathy within angular, white steel At the same time, it sug- a predicament that faced frames, the capacious gests the prosaic historical Henry David Thoreau chairs and benches suggest markers in municipal when he furnished his an idiosyncratic mix of parks and at "scenic vistas" shed: "On the one hand, 20th-century art and along America's highways. he wanted to be neigh- design styles from Russian Perhaps the rock is in- borly. On the other, he Constructivism and Dutch tended as a witty visual pun wanted to be alone. So he De Stijl to American on the word 'foundation'? decided on three chairs. Mission. A similar amalgam Armajani laughs and One for solitude, two for of stylistic sources charac- admits that he did have companionship and three terizes the 16-foot-high that in mind. And what of for society."24 painted-steel gates that the rock's position? It Asked where he prefers to lead from the street into straddles the gate, standing sit in the garden, Armajani the garden. What Armajani half inside, and half out- points to the secluded describes as the "self-evi- side the garden. "The rock alleyway that runs along dent, honest construction" is an invitation to those the building. There, isolat- of the doors evokes such outside the gates to enter ed from the main space, )~~ ~~~~~~~~~~IE quintessentially American the garden," Armajani says. stands a solitary chair, idioms as the picket fence "The rock belongs to the flanked by the garden's and the trussed railway neighborhood." In fact, the only open-mouthed jar. bridge, while the chevron rock has become an impor- The vaguely anthropomor- patterning of the lintel is tant landmark in the com- phic pair (the artist and his infused with a dynamism munity. First-time visitors muse, perhaps?) face a that recalls the revolution- driving to the foundation large window that provides ary spirit of the Russian are typically instructed to a view of the book-lined Constructivists. One thinks "turn right on McConnell walls of the foundation's especially of Aleksandr Avenue, then make a left at literary library. Rodchenko's vigorous the boulder on Coral Tree graphic designs for book Place." jackets and posters, and There are other elements the intricate geometries of in the garden that an analy- Gustav Klucis Gustav Klucis' propaganda sis of the space could cover. Designfor Screen 1922 kiosks and Lyubov' Popova's watercolor and ink on paper Everywhere you look there stage sets. Collection of George Costakis is evidence of Armajani's Athens As for the granite boulder extraordinary attention to that rises at the center of detail and of his highly the garden gate .... When developed understanding asked if it might be inter- of how people use public preted as a solemn tribute spaces. The design of the seating, for example, 23 Ibid. acknowledges that the gar- 24 The artist, quoted in Nancy Prin- den is a place for both soli- centhal, "The Odyssey of Home: Siah Armajani's Elements,"Siah Armajani/ tary and group activities, Elements(New York:Max Protetch Inc., for rumination and for 1991), unpaginated. conversation, for friends ? 1994 Lisa Lyons and for strangers. There