THE PURE REALM GARDEN OF MT. POTALAKA
BOULDER, CO
ROLE: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, HANDS-ON CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE TRAINING
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Project Team: Hirshberg/Client, TMW Stonemasons, & Tree of Life Landscaping
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The Pure Realm Garden of Mount Potalaka is a garden of spirit. The ‘Realm of Avalokitesvara’ is summoned through the creation of a stroll style karesansui garden (dry landscape garden) anchored with a local serene mountain stone and plant palette.
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Desirae D. Wood pulled meaning and form from two sources of inspiration for this meditation garden. The first inspires the garden’s poetic image for contemplation; the ‘Fudaraku-san-en’ treatise written by the Client, a Professor and Teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, which describes in great detail Mount Potalaka and the Potala Palace - the realm of Avalokitesvara, known as Guanyin, who is the bodhisattva of compassion. The second, the Kagawa Residence Garden, a stroll style karesansui garden with strong stone placements, flowing landforms and coves by Mirei Shigemori, inspires the physical garden sceneries.
Native and adaptive plants serve as the structural layer while a diverse flowering groundcover matrix grounds the site in a unique gravel and crevice style planting. Construction completed in summer of 2024.
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