Exhibitors
Water Gardens
Anglo
Aquarium Plant Co Ltd
Resting Place for a Hero
Designer: Aileen Scoular
Contractor: Anglo Aquarium Plant Co Ltd
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This ambient water garden has been inspired by the Oscar-nominated film Hero (2002), directed by Zhang Yimou. The design is based around a pool of water - the elixir of life - with the hero's resting place at its centre, reminding us that the human need to rest and recharge starts from the very centre of our being. This is not an oriental garden per se. Instead, the garden as a whole signifies a timeless resting place for a wandering warrior, a place of safety and refuge where this nameless hero can rest his limbs and recharge his spirit. A timber-decked path leads us around the pool, with two gravelled rest areas from which to enjoy the feast of foliage around the water's edge. As befits a restless hero, the planting on the ground is transient and fluid. Using bamboos, grasses, airy perennials and trees with pendulous limbs, the movement in this garden represents the ever-changing life the hero leads on land. In and around the water, the aquatic and marginal planting is dense, bold and well defined, signifying the security and harmony the hero feels when he reaches the calm of his 'island' retreat.