TRANSLATING THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE: A Chinese Garden In East Tennessee

Cultural landscapes are valuable representations of humans’ interaction with nature. These world heritage sites should be protected since they are illustrations of the evolution of human society and settlement over time. However, many of the traditional ones are losing their impact under current physical constraints that are presented by their natural environments, or social, economic, and cultural forces. Based on today’s modern context of efficiency and simplicity, the vanishing legacy of these sites should be interpreted by extracting the essence rooted in the culture and translating it into distinctive but concise characteristics that can be used in modern landscape design. The Chinese garden referred to in this paper is an example for analyzing the essence accumulated throughout history. At the The University of Tennessee’s International House, by designing a simplified Chinese garden with translated features base on the identities that are elaborated in this thesis, a place is created for the preservation and spread of culture, as well as benefit and appreciation for all visitors. In this way, these translated cultural landscapes will not only stand as a symbol on their own, but also serve people from all backgrounds and therefore add valuable benefits and diversities to the existing landscape.