Silence, Singapore Garden Festival 2016

This garden explores the concept of silence, an increasingly rare experience in a world full of noise and sensory overload. Simple combinations of highly textured hard and soft materials are used to create a spiritual and atmospheric place, and engender a sense of enclosure and separation from the outside world.

The entrance to the garden is obscured to create a greater sense of drama upon arrival, but visitors can peep into the space through holes punctured in the wall at eye level, and which form hidden messages in Morse Code. 

A group of rain trees spread over the garden, their elegant branches creating shadow patterns and dappled light. Concrete paving is planted with ground-hugging plants and mosses to soften the tread and green the space.  Boulder seating faces a low crucible of water that shimmers and reflects the changing light of the day. Hidden lighting creates a continuous glow on the faces of the curved walls.