Concept Garden
The Concept Garden has been inspired by two traditional whakataukii and an old land use map.
Concept gardens aren’t necessarily practical, natural or even attractive but are usually based on a central idea or message. That idea or concept often makes reference to the site in which the garden is placed, and the designs usually have a strong, emphatic form. The emerging ‘conceptual garden’ movement is essentially an extension of the ‘Conceptual Art’ movement. This particular Concept Garden has been inspired by two Maaori whakataukii and map legends.
On land use maps there’s usually a legend of square boxes each with a different colour or texture denoting the different land uses. In this garden the nine square panels each represent one of the land uses on the legend in old school atlases. Pasture is represented by the grass, native bush by Muehlenbeckia astonii, urban areas by White Carpet roses, horticultural by citrus trees, tussock grassland by Carex buchananii, coniferous forest by Pinus mugo, scrubland by Leptospermum scoparium, wetland by Apodasmia and water bodies by the central pool.
Whakataukii are traditional Maaori proverbs which often function as reference points in speeches. These proverbs may also present historical events through a Maaori world view that communicates an underlying message or idea.
The whakataukii inscribed on the white wall is:
He peke tangata, apa he peke titoki
The human family lives on while the branch of the titoki falls and decays.
Maaori customarily smeared the dead with kookoowai (red ochre) to give them a high status and the trunks of these titoki have been painted with ochre as their own mark of distinction. As one interpretation of the whakataukii implies, as the population grows the land uses depicted grow at the expense of special trees, environments and waterways. A current example is the transformation of much of the Mackenzie Basin into dairy farms.
The second whakataukii is inscribed on the majestic steel pipe which over decades will gradually rust away.
Whatungarongaro te tangata toituu te whenua
As man disappears from sight, the land remains
The message of this interpretation is that in the end, nature is going to win.
Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand hamiltongardens,co.nz
Concept Garden
The Concept Garden has been inspired by two traditional whakataukii and an old land use map.
Concept gardens aren’t necessarily practical, natural or even attractive but are usually based on a central idea or message. That idea or concept often makes reference to the site in which the garden is placed, and the designs usually have a strong, emphatic form. The emerging ‘conceptual garden’ movement is essentially an extension of the ‘Conceptual Art’ movement. This particular Concept Garden has been inspired by two Maaori whakataukii and map legends.
On land use maps there’s usually a legend of square boxes each with a different colour or texture denoting the different land uses. In this garden the nine square panels each represent one of the land uses on the legend in old school atlases. Pasture is represented by the grass, native bush by Muehlenbeckia astonii, urban areas by White Carpet roses, horticultural by citrus trees, tussock grassland by Carex buchananii, coniferous forest by Pinus mugo, scrubland by Leptospermum scoparium, wetland by Apodasmia and water bodies by the central pool.
Whakataukii are traditional Maaori proverbs which often function as reference points in speeches. These proverbs may also present historical events through a Maaori world view that communicates an underlying message or idea.
The whakataukii inscribed on the white wall is:
He peke tangata, apa he peke titoki
The human family lives on while the branch of the titoki falls and decays.
Maaori customarily smeared the dead with kookoowai (red ochre) to give them a high status and the trunks of these titoki have been painted with ochre as their own mark of distinction. As one interpretation of the whakataukii implies, as the population grows the land uses depicted grow at the expense of special trees, environments and waterways. A current example is the transformation of much of the Mackenzie Basin into dairy farms.
The second whakataukii is inscribed on the majestic steel pipe which over decades will gradually rust away.
Whatungarongaro te tangata toituu te whenua
As man disappears from sight, the land remains
The message of this interpretation is that in the end, nature is going to win.
Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand hamiltongardens,co.nz