A PLACE, A STORY / Suzhou
Humble Administrator’s Garden
Water connects pavilions, planted islands and winding corridors. This Suzhou garden makes a small turn feel like the beginning of another landscape.
© King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons. Resized and JPEG compressed. · Original source · License
© King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons. Resized and JPEG compressed. · Original source · License
A retired official created the Humble Administrator’s Garden during the Ming dynasty. Water gives its different spaces a common thread, passing beside pavilions, halls and corridors. The garden changed through later centuries, so its story includes rebuilding as well as the original idea of retreat.
Follow a reflection with your eyes, then look up at the structure it belongs to. The same roof can become two very different shapes.
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