BOTANICAL GARDEN
MADURAI, INDIA
The 40-acre site is located on the denuded hills to the northeast of Madurai in South India. The highest point within the site offers views of several cultural and geological landmarks in the distance, the most recognizable being the gopurams of the famous Meenakshi Temple to the south and the Elephant Hill to the southeast.
The project is grounded in the idea that botanical gardens are working landscapes that begin simply and move towards complexity. The starting point in this case was the planting of five plant species: bougainvillea, plumeria, gardenia, oleander, and palms. Instead of placing each species in a zone of its own, we give each one a strategic orientation that allows each species to order the site on its terms, even extend across and beyond it. Each of these lines extends to a significant point on the horizon such as Meenakshi Temple and the famous Elephant Hill among other sacred hills. At the displaced confluence of these lines is located a conference center, a prospect, and a nursery.
Even as the initial garden begins operation from a center to the periphery, a planting of fruit and forest trees begin from the periphery inwards, occupying crevasses and areas open to colonization.
