As these late golden autumnal afternoons turn into evening, I’m likely to walk through the NYU-owned and maintained garden near our building in Washington Square Village, where other habitues often gravitate.
Even though most of the neighbors who live in the surrounding buildings (which, collectively, are known as a “super block”) are connected to NYU as employees or students, in the garden venue we rarely directly interact with one another, as it’s a space mainly for solitude and experiencing a bit of the natural world. What lends itself to a contemplative mood better than a peaceful garden?
People walk dogs (who must remain on their leash), take their daily exercises, play with kids (their own or with friends’ families), edit papers, read, or simply sit and enjoy being in the space. If people want to have conversations, these also happen, but subtly, as this particular place is meant for relaxing, and people respect one anothers’ spaces.
All day long, many of us work and teach, chatter about learning and, often, listen to lessons about whatever we’re studying. The Garden offers a chance to get out of our habitual focused mode, and just immerse ourselves in a more natural environment.
The Garden itself is crowned by a noble willow tree, surrounded by apple trees with concrete benches, interspersed by red maple saplings, and a beautiful dogwood, towering over the rose trellises. One can also enjoy the plantings of varied flowers as they cycle through the seasons. Blossoming cherry and various fruit trees bloom in the spring, when there is also the beginning of a changing variety of colorful petals in the flower beds, which continue though the autumn. The gardeners and maintenance staff do a wonderful job of keeping the Garden in a beautiful condition.
On occasion, a neighbor or a group of friends from the Village will also visit the Garden, to find some peace from the noisy city. Stone picnic tables with chess boards built into the top are available for game-playing or eating, and are often used by couples, for family parties, or just for sharing time together.
People of all ages enjoy spending time in the Garden, separately or together. Last week, I met a woman being wheeled about as she celebrated her 96th birthday!
If we should venture into nearby Washington Square, we’re likely to hear boom boxes, student bands playing, or other kinds of loud music. Sasaki Garden doesn’t lend itself to these kinds of distractions. Usually, the only sounds are splashes from a set of bubbling fountains in the shallow pool, or the squeals of children as they run along paths through the garden’s many sections
Peaceful heritage
The designer, Hideo Sasaki, was a landscape architect of Japanese heritage, born in California. He was internationally respected as a landscape architect, planner, teacher, and mentor. He pioneered the concept of integrated design, insisting that we should use the whole depth of human knowledge to solve problems, rather than just staying in our traditional silos. Sasaki’s ethos of curiosity and collaboration, and decades-long role as a convener of varied perspectives, still lives on in the garden that he designed.
