Rochelle Mills at the Beverley Hills Town Hall.
Los Angeles, like New York
and London, is one of those cities that never sleeps, and I had to wonder if
there were anywhere in the metropolis where an individual might find a place
to simply be at peace. The question presents a foregone conclusion, actually,
because if one thing can be safely said about Los Angeles it is this: that there
is at least one of everything. And that includes a magnificent Japanese Garden.
Quite off the tourist track in a pocket of Van Nuys (San Fernando Valley) lies
an extraordinary Japanese garden annexed to the Tillmann Water Reclamation Plant,
which processes wastewater for secondary use (and no, it doesn't pong). The
idea of having the garden adjacent to the plant was conceived by city engineer
Donald C Tillmann who wanted to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water
in a delicate environment.
The garden's waterfall and lake are fed by the plant. The garden was designed
by Dr Koichi Kawana, who taught Japanese architecture and landscape design at
UCLA and was responsible for botanic gardens in San Diego, Denver and Chicago
plus others including a superb six hectare garden in St Louis famed for its
beauty. Spread over more than two hectares, the garden is built in the Chisen-Kaiyushiki
or "wet garden with promenade" style after the strolling gardens of
the 18th and 19th centuries owned by Japanese feudal lords.
Keen gardeners will be enraptured with this garden. By any measure, it is quite
beautiful and, like so many locations around Los Angeles with any promise of
"good visual", this garden has featured in over 200 productions for
film, television and advertising. You may just recognise some of the scenery.
So why visit a Japanese garden in Los Angeles? The answer lies in notes by Dr
Kawana: "The uniqueness of the Japanese garden which is based on the expression
of the essence of nature will afford the public a peaceful and tranquil environment
as an oasis to which people can escape from a busy and often chaotic contemporary
scene."
Or in other words, visitors needing an antidote to the high-pulse excitement
of Disneyland or Universal Studios will find this garden the perfect retreat.
Just a (relatively) short drive south along the San Diego freeway is the Getty
Centre, a billion dollar complex showcasing the art collection of oil magnate
J Paul Getty; a collection expanded since his death to include an impressive
range of pre-20th century European works. As a double act, the Getty Centre
and the Japanese Garden make for a day's outing of intense cultural focus.
Their geographical proximity to one another is a bonus. However, I have to admit
to not visiting the Getty Centre - much to the chagrin of some locals, who could
not believe what I chose as an alternative.
| Instead, in the company of Rochelle Mills of Architours (who also provided transport to the Japanese Garden), I pursued a discovery of a very different kind. Call me twisted if you will but I felt the prospect of visiting the Glendale Galleria, a typical suburban shopping mega-mall, as culturally promising as envying Mr GettyÕs indescribable fortune. Average America, I have to say, is as compelling to me as European antiquities. I was not disappointed. Ms Rochelle's understanding of the mega-mall's place in the urban construct provided grist for a discourse on the irrelevance of the structure within contemporary America which, in short, goes like this: the mega-malls were built in the 1970s and 80s as massive retail cocoons promising a lifestyle event protected from a threatening LA but now, with safer streets, shoppers want to feel the breeze in their face and look at the sky. Open retail areas are all the rage now with Century City, Universal Studios CityWalk and the Santa Monica Mall leading the field. The old-fashioned mega-malls continue to survive, if not for the promise of value shopping, then at least because they offer a commodity highly prized in LA: somewhere to park your car. |
Rochelle Mills at the Beverley Hills Town Hall. |
Such
adventures into middle-class America are not for everyone but Architours can
tailor a tour to meet any need, providing they fit the operator's niche.
"Our tours are customised to the interest of the guests or guests,"
advised Ms Mills.
"We specialise in architecture or cultural and art tours, although we don't
do star's homes or 'Hollywood' unless there is a cultural or architectural tie-in.
We refer those guests to another company that does that kind of thing,"
Ms Mills said.
Architour fees are typically $US25 per person per hour including admission to
sites and lunch (if the tour is more than four hours). Food and Design Tours
which pair chefs and designers are $US50 to $US75 per person including a meal.
You can reach Rochelle Mills through the Los Angeles Convention and Visitor's
Bureau. The Japanese Garden is at 6100 Woodley Ave, Van Nuys, and is open Monday
to Thursday between noon and 4pm for self-guided tours. Volunteer-led tours
are available on the same days plus Saturday mornings. Call 818 756 8166 for
tour reservations. Admission is $US3.