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Amano-One hand clapping
Speaking about Takeshi Amano, his concepts are based on the Japanese view of
gardens and gardening in general. A japanese garden must emulate nature, it
should contain all the elemental forces earth, air, water and fire and
should be viewable from all sides. Each side should present a different yet
similar face and should emulate the theories espoused by gardeners through
the ages and also by Amano san
Amano's inspiration are the landscapes he photgraphs and the zen concepts of
symetry, design and placement. Zen says that nature is perfect in its
inperfection and this colours his views. Small things such as a branch
sticking through a fence or moss growing a rock wall are aspects of this.
Like a house or garden exposed to the elements, the aquarium must age
gracefully, ie: plants must look natural and fill in their alloted space
without looking unnatural of forced. Groups of 7,5 or 3 are also a Japanese
concept coming from those ages in a person's life that are important, Shichi
Go San in Japanese.
Essential to almost any aquarium layout that hopes to emulate nature or
natural conditions, materials must appear natural and unchanging. Rock and
woodwork must be viewable from all sides in a Japanese garden and must evoke
different images to the viewer. Buildings also evoke this aspect as well for
example a concert hall appears to look like a piano when viewed from above
and like something else when viewed from the side.
lastly, it comes down to controlling those forces of nature that can be
controlled, in the natural world nothing is truly stable or unchanging,
these forces are at work but move very slowly, in Amano's aquatic world this
becomes an artificial concept of nature.
Of course not everyone agrees with it. But it sure looks pretty.
Edward Venn
SMG Holdings Co., Ltd.,
Deux Chateaux Blanc 2-303,
1356 Kobuchi, Kasukabe,
Saitama, Japan
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