Posts Tagged With: David Engel

Another glimpse of things to come…

While computers are getting back to normal, we continue our journey on the west coast in the San Francisco Bay area — our last stop before heading home to Hawaii.

Recently we posted a photo from each of several places as yet unaccompanied by a longer article. Those places included San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas in Texas, and St. Louis in Missouri.

Here a few more images — a glimpse of things to come — from Rockford, Glencoe and Chicago, Illinois.

Images from Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado, and Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, California, remain for another post.

Unless otherwise credited, photographs in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. You may see a full size image by clicking on any one of the photos.

a detail from one of my favorite pathways — this one is outside the guesthouse at the Anderson Japanese garden in Rockford, Illinois

Designed by Hoichi Kurisu, the garden at Rosecrance in Rockford, IL, offers adolescents in recovery many places to connect with their natural surroundings, to meditate, to write in their journals and to reconnect to the lives that await them beyond the garden.

a classic design ornaments a water basin outside the retreat house (shoin) at Sansho-en in the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden at Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL

Osaka Garden on the Wooded Island in Jackson Park, Chicago, IL, has a long history reaching back to the Japanese exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition (The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893). The garden was recently refurbished under the direction of Sadafumi Uchiyama.

More than 20 years ago, the Hotel Nikko opened along the river in Chicago, IL, with a Japanese garden designed by David Engle. The garden has been totally redone under Westin management. A few suggestions of a Japanese garden remain, but it is not what it once was.

Categories: Chicago, Glencoe, Illinois, Rockford | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

The Westervelt Company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

An artful garden sits amid four buildings, the headquarters of The Westervelt Company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Formerly known as Gulf States Paper Company, the company’s recently retired president Jack Warner served in Burma during World War II. His time there and his frequent travels to Japan informed the design of the corporate headquarters and garden.

All four buildings are connected by exterior walkways offering varying views of the central garden, inspired by gardens at Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto, Japan.

The buildings also house the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art, home of the Westervelt Collection, an extensive collection of paintings, furnishings and sculpture from around the world.

Garden construction began with construction of the office building in 1969 and both were completed in 1972. We were told that Mr. Warner closely directed landscape architect David Engel to achieve his vision — a garden in which quietude brings a sense of the oneness of all: heaven, earth and man. “We begin to feel our relationships to all the universe, where everything is forever changing in form, ever renewing,” according to an old brochure provided by the company.

A company brochure describes this bridge saying: “One legend says that the traditional zig-zag bridge was first built this way so that people on foot could escape their enemies on horseback. Another more practical reason is so the visitor can view the garden from different angles.”

closer view of the waterfall

The entire pond was recently drained and leaks repaired. Koi have not been reintroduced to the pond. Several small goldfish were visible on this visit.

Arrangements to visit the garden and the art collection must be made with the company.

Update: The Tuscaloosa Museum of Art, featuring the Westervelt Collection, will be permanently closing effective Friday, August 31, 2018. Thank you for your support and patronage of the Museum.

Categories: Alabama, Tuscaloosa | Tags: , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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