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A Planting Design Critique: Linear Elegance
Tucked away in the northwest courtyard of the Art Institute in the heart of downtown Chicago, only yards away from the bustling, energetic, and iconic Michigan Avenue with its famous Hoerr/Schaudt planters, is another stunning - though often overlooked - garden. Designed by noted plantsman and planting designer Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennial Farm, this garden marks the first of many Art Institute contributions from Roy, who has also designed a shade garden in the same courtyard and a stunning perennial garden on the northwest corner of the new Modern Wing. Although the garden is in a high-profile location, it is often overlooked by visitors and native Chicagoans alike. After all, with Millennium Park and the Lurie Garden across the street and the entire Art Institute to explore – not to mention downtown Chicago - why bother taking the time to visit this comparably small, not-as-famous, garden?
What makes this garden so special, at least for me, was the surprise of its discovery. Beyond the pleasant surprise of discovering the space behind the walls and shrubbery of the northwest courtyard was open to guests, I certainly didn’t expect the masterpiece I happened upon once inside. I honestly don’t know why I was surprised – the Art Institute is a fantastic creative and inventive institution. In training future generations of artists and designers to think outside the box and push the envelope of expectations on a daily basis – it should follow that their landscape would do the same.
However, despite these factors, I still possessed the notion that this garden would be, quite frankly, boring. Before visiting, I tried to picture the garden. What came to mind was a sickening idea: a design with an overzealous use of color, purely for show, attempting to mimic classic garden design principals rather than reinvent them. I also imagined it would lack harmony and elegance, perhaps utilizing a disgusting monoculture of “sophisticated” and “modern” plants in an attempt to relate to the Institute’s new Modern Wing. What I discovered completely and totally shattered those expectations.
This garden is a masterpiece: a thoughtful composition that is beyond worthy of its association to the Art Institute. The garden successfully and harmoniously blends classic and modern design principals. Roy excels at paying homage to classical garden design through utilizing the timeless principal of repetition in order to create a forced perspective, making the garden seem larger than it is. In tandem with these qualities, Roy succeeded in incorporating modern design trends such as utilizing combinations of ornamental grasses and perennials in a muted color palette to create bold, linear patterns with moments of punctuated color, all while considering the elegant and otherworldly qualities of a plant’s texture and subtle emotion.
This garden goes beyond being gaudy for the sake of a good show, and avoids falling prey to the predictability of foundation planting, as so many landscapes unfortunately do. Rather, it has become an extension of the interior collection of the Art Institute. Its perfect and thoughtful combination of classic and contemporary elements is the perfect design for an institution with a strong commitment to classic and modern art. By mimicking the ornate, vertical, muted facades of the Art Institute and Chicago skyline, it is in perfect union with the surrounding landscape. It is a dynamic art piece – as so many gardens are - evolving through the seasons unlike the many static art pieces inside the museum. Every visit and reflection on the design reveals another layer, seamlessly blended into the greater whole of the design – usually a small but pivotal piece that contributes to the resounding success of the entire composition. It holds no shortage of material for garden designers, landscape architects, and hobby gardeners alike to draw upon for inspiration.
I encourage you to visit t his fantastic exhibition in order to gain your own perspective. While there, make sure to visit the rest of the Art Institute gardens in addition to other great gardens in downtown Chicago, including the world-famous Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, the Michigan Avenue planters, and the many gardens of Grant Park. Also, I encourage you to think twice about designs that catch your eye – what makes them so successful? What elements can you find that appear in other gardens you enjoy? Once you’ve done this, you can begin to experiment, practice, duplicate, and eventually reinvent these elements in your own garden.