The beautiful major public gardens I have visited or seen on print and audiovisual media are all bedecked with sweet-smelling and attractive blooms where exotic and native plants meld in flower beds that create a floral tapestry to complement specimen trees chosen for their form, bloom, the texture of foliage, bark, and rarity.
In those gardens pergolas and arches, weighted down with blooming climbers, connect the floral displays anchored on the ground with those adorning the mid-height shrubs and the taller trees. Winding paths meander through the various sections of the gardens, with water features and attractive statues situated in the axes of the paths or in prominent corners of the gardens. In almost all cases, swaths of manicured grassy lawns or ponds with colorful fish playing in the waters complete the pleasing look.
The Aga Kahn Garden does not look like those other noteworthy gardens. It's very, very different.
The Aga Khan Garden uses a delicate play of geometry, water, light, and shadow to create a different yet visually very memorable and desirable experience.
Yes, I see blooms, but flowers play a secondary role to attractive water features and sharp geometric designs. I think this Garden appears to have more granite and limestone than flowering plants.
Water - a main feature of the Aga Kahn Garden - cascades and bounces down the honeycomb cuts of the granite water ramp.
Unmistakably, the Aga Kahn Garden's appeal and wow factor emanate from strong shapes and clever waterworks.
The clever Aga Kahn Garden, I can clearly see, is inspired by Islamic architecture and landscapes; it is reputed to be the world’s northernmost Islamic garden, situated near Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, Canada.
Clever: jets of water crisscross as water squirts out from the back wall of the main stage
Water (highly desirable and essential in arid Arabia where Islam started) defines this Islamic garden. Clever and unexpected use of water elements emphasizes the role of water not only in Islamic gardens but also in the lives of the Islamic people.
A reflecting pool in a raised giant granite oval bowl welcomes me after I walk down a long metal walkway that seems to float in the middle of a mini forest. I imagine the wild local plants and trees were spectators as I walk down the metal "catwalk."
As I step off the metal walkway (my imagined catwalk") and turn towards the inner garden, my attention is caught by crisscrossing rivulets of water squirting from the wall fountain at the back of the central stage. As I climb the steps up to the top of the stage, I see gurgling water well right in the middle. Stepping closer to the well, I slowly notice the geometric designs in the granite below the water surface.
I let out a gasp!
My eyes could not focus on the beautiful calming well’s design for long, because sprawling right before me, just below the stage, is the main bulk of the 4.8 hectare garden.
What a mesmerizing vista!
Mesmerizing: the four main quarters of the Aga Kahn Islamic Garden as viewed from the stage, resplendent in greens to complement the patterned tile pathways
The garden is divided into four quarters. Traditionally called a "Chahar-bagh" (Persian for "four gardens"), each quarter has a big square of lush lawn. A straight avenue of placid water reflects the greying skies with smudges of blue and white. Long rectilinear walkways of granite and limestone with strong geometric designs seem to enclose the pools and the lawns in a magnificent yet calming layout.
Islamic tradition dictates that the garden is rectangular with a geometrical layout that creates a sense of harmonious symmetry. Strong visual lines of the hard elements of the garden replace the visuals from colorful blooms and textural foliage and other soft elements of a typical garden.
Octagons are purposely incorporated into the designs. I learn that in Islam octagon represents a geometrical link between a circle (symbolizing heaven) and a square (representing Earth). The number eight is associated with paradise. Consequently, I notice that each quarter of this Islamic garden is further divided into smaller halves to create eight sub-areas.
Each section of the garden uses geometric designs based on the numbers four or eight. One of the eight small areas has an eight-pointed water fountain, the other has an eight-angled water fountain. The floors of the small sections have very linear or triangular designs or octagonal patterns.
Greenery, mostly fruit trees, and Alberta native pine trees, planted at the perimeters of the garden softens the geometric lines of this Islamic garden.
Islam half-moons? The amphitheater with semi-circular granite benches
Also part of the Aga Kahn Garden is an amphitheater with semicircular granite benches, and an artificial lake where Canadian geese and native ducks swim about freely around water lilies and reeds.
Marble half-wall (with geometric filigree Arabic designs) separating the small pond and a much larger pond (not seen in this photo)
The U of A Botanic Gardens also has cultivated alpine, lilac and lily collections; vegetable and herb gardens; indoor show houses one of which is home to exotic butterflies; Indigenous Garden; rose trial beds and much more.
Another water fountain with floors displaying geometric pattern; here, the fountain is not turned on yet
The Aga Khan Garden, according to the U of A website, was a $25 million gift "by His Highness the Aga Khan as a symbol of the continued intellectual, educational and cultural collaboration between the University of Alberta and the Aga Khan Development Network.... It is an extraordinary contemporary interpretation of Islamic landscape architecture in a northern climate."
The Aga Kahn Garden anchors the University of Alberta (U of A) Botanic Gardens (formerly the Devonian Botanic Garden) in a sprawling 97-hectare property. Garden lovers ought to visit the Aga Kahn Garden to enjoy the immersive experience of an Arabic garden right in the heart of the snowy North, half a world away from the origin of the Arabic culture, in this case, of Arabic gardens.
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