Crafting a Garden: Inside the Creation of Liu Fang Yuan

The Huntington's Chinese Garden—known as Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance—is more than what it seems. With its tiled roofs, wooden columns, and inscribed placards, it appears to be a replica of the historical gardens in Suzhou, China, that inspired its design. But underneath those seemingly traditional elements are complex layers of materials and ideas unique to the garden's setting in contemporary California. Crafting a Garden: Inside the Creation of Liu Fang Yuan sheds light on the intricacies of the Chinese Garden while heightening appreciation of all that it contains.

On display are models, photographs, tools, and videos that tell the story of the design and construction of the garden. The exhibition is organized around five fundamental crafts involved in creating Liu Fang Yuan: Building, Paving, Mountain Making, Planting, and Writing.

The Roofs of Liu Fang Yuan (detail), 2021–2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

The Paving Patterns of Liu Fang Yuan (detail), 2021–2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

The Flora of Liu Fang Yuan (detail), 2021–2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Flowery Brush Library (Bi Hua Shu Fang): Elevations, 2009. 1:50 scale CAD drawing, digital print.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Stargazing Tower: Ceiling, 2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii), 2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Flowering Peach (Prunus persica 'Early White'), 2022. Digital photograph. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Paving Pattern: Overlapping Squares and Coins, 2022. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

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