THE VISUAL IMPACT OF BUILDING DEVELOPMENT ON RITSURIN GARDEN AND ITS CONSERVATION

Abstract

Ritsurin garden is a prominent Japanese strolling garden located in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, and is a listed national cultural property. However it is presently being visually spoilt by the existence of modern tall buildings bordering the garden. In this study, twelve view points were selected as observation locations. The visual impact of modern tall buildings on the garden scenery was described based on the vertical and the horizontal angles of the buildings views visible from each observation point. Two actions were suggested to improve the scenery and simultaneously, conserve the garden. The first action, to be conducted within the garden, is establishing proper coverage by planting trees or planting trees after mounding the ground to hide the buildings views without spoiling the main existing design. The second action, to be conducted outside the garden, should provide for an appropriate protection zone (fuchi-chiku) surrounding the garden.