By tradition, gardens and parks tend to tell stories. Yet what happened during the last ten years in Dumfriesshire in the South of Scotland probably goes beyond the scope of the park landscapes which were established within the last two hundred years.
Charles Jencks, the leading architectural critic of postmodernism, transforms his knowledge of the complexity theories into a fascinating garden amidst the rough Scottish hill country, which deals with a theme no less than the universe.
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, that is the name of the terrain created on the family estate of his deceased wife Maggie Keswick.
The proved expert on Chinese garden art and geomancy contributed many spiritual ideas to the shaping of the garden right until her death in the mid 1990s. For instance, the Japanese Zen concept of the Borrowed Landscape, her knowledge of Buddhist meditative spaces or the cosmic breath of subterranean dragons derived from the tradition of Taoism.\nEver since, Charles Jencks has been busy creating the image of the universe in the Scottish grassland on his own.\nHowever, he has won the support of scientists and artists who help develop new forms and metaphors for the history of the cosmos. This way, an extraordinary combination of Chinese design elements and themes from the chaos theory and cosmology has come into being.
Although there is always a complex idea behind the various parts of the garden they are also revealed to the observer at first sight. Not without reason is garden space dedicated to the human senses. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation appeals to the very same. \nJencks is one of the leading thinkers of the 21st century. The Harvard graduate has published several dozen books and has taught at the most prestigious universities. But Jencks is also a practical designer. In 1992 he received the Nara Gold Medal for Architecture and in 1998 he was elected Gardener of the year by CountryLife in Great Britain.
Twenty-five minutes of film should be just enough to introduce the impressive garden of 16 hectares and the philosophy behind it.\nEspecially conspicuous in this park are above all the hills and ponds in the shape of paisley patterns. These are followed by the 15 metres tall Snake Mound and by the Snail Mound.
Only recently, Jencks finished one further main area in the garden. From the residential building the Dry Cascade branches off. This dry cascade is a flight of steps, which strikes as being surreal, leading downhill to one of the ponds. All the way along the various steps there are pieces of art representing the different epoques of the history of the earth.
There is also a formal garden of the six senses. It is dedicated to the human DNA and the senses. The senses are represented by abstract or figured sculptures made of aluminium. Plants, each stimulating a particular sense, flourish in the beds. Around the sculpture that is dedicated to the nose, Kesswick and Jencks planted aromatic nice-smelling plants from the Mediterranean. In the bed of the sense of touch, there grow thistles and nettles.
Additionally, the garden has many other objects and spaces on offer. There is an eccentric building called Nonsense. Furthermore, there are the Devil's Teeth and the sweeping, bright red Jumping Bridge.\nThere are terraces dedicated to symmetry or some black whole.
