The Garden of Cosmic Speculation by Charles Jencks

 

The ‘Garden of Cosmic Speculation’ in Dumfries, Scotland is a study in green sweeping earthworks and meandering waterways.

Now who wouldn't be interested in a garden with a name such as this?

Charles Jencks and his late wife, Maggie Keswick, created, what some call, ‘the first true garden of the 21st century’on the grounds of her mother’s 30 acre estate .

Jencks wanted to celebrate the fundamental magic of nature via landscape design, so he used his property as a microcosm of a greater world.

“What is a garden if not a miniaturization, and celebration, of the place we are in, the universe?” - Charles Jencks.

 

Jencks’ fascination with quantum science is evident in this verdant setting. The spiral shape is prominent and can seen in the tall, cone shaped grassed mound that rises several stories above - and reflected beautifully in - a body of curving, still water.

Some say the spiraling paths of this mound is a template of the DNA molecule and the spirals of Nature.

 Today, the conical green mound with a spiraling path is Jencks’ trademark of sorts and he incorporates them in various parks around the world.
 

Look to the Scotland's National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh for another Jencks landscape.

Here, the grounds were similarly constructed to create 'Landform Ueda', described as a "stepped, serpentine-shaped mound complemented by crescent-shaped pools of water. A combination of artwork, garden and social space, the landform was inspired by chaos theory and shapes found in nature. "

 

Cosmic, indeed.

 

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