The Seclusion Garden in MOMA

Creating a Space for Seclusion in the City of New York

One of the marks of maturity is the need for solitude: a city should not merely draw men together in many varied activities, but should permit each person to find, near at hand, moments of seclusion and peace, as Lewis Mumford once said, there should be a seclusion space in the city. MOMA, situated in the center of New York, surrounded by skyscrapers is a perfect space to experience the ideal seclusion as described in the classical Chinese literature.

In this seclusion garden, a forest of bamboo will be the keynote for the mysterious space for people to explore through. And among these spaces, moments of spaces will be placed for accommodating sculptures and activities. When tourists start to wander around in the seclusion garden, they would choose either to enter these special spaces or to continue with their trip to explore. Finally, they would reach a central open space, as a reward of going through these long ways of exploration. Experiences might vary from people to people, by referring and representing the classical Chinese garden philosophy in a modern language, this garden is going to provide the tourists with their own unique exploration of seclusion in a modern American city.