Comparison Of Versailles And Katsura Palace

Versailles and Katsura Palace

Versailles Palace located in the city of Versailles, northern France, and is about 10 miles southwest of Paris. It was a former French royal residence and was built for Louis XIV by Louis Le Vau, architect; Charles Le Brun, painter; and Andre Le Notre, landscape architect. The gardens of Versailles represent the classic French Garden style. Katsura Palace located in the southwest suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. It was built for Prince Toshhihito by planner, Kobori Enshu in seventeenth century. The garden of Katsura is a masterpiece of the Japanese gardens, and the beauty of the garden lies in the harmonu of the simple, sophisticated appearance of the buildings and the fantastic scenery of the garden. There are many different

between the gardens of Versailles and Katsura garden including spatial organization, belief, and details.
The Gardens of Versailles was a complex building which created a framework for the geometric organization of the palace and the gardens. The gardens covered about 200 acres, including a central axis with a series of cross axes. The central axis is along from east to west, and it begins at the gate of the palace with symmetrical pools which are water parterre. From here, the ground decreases to the next terrace which is the Fountain of Latona. Next, the axis goes to a lower Tapis Vert which runs in the narrow corridor formed by two high green walls of clipped limes, and the walls are bordered by two rows of sculptures and urns. At the end of the green walls, there is an open space with the Fountain of Apollo. At this point, the axis is the Grand Canal, which is one mile long and 400 feet wide. The central axis ends with trees lining the grassy alley. Across the central axis, there are many lateral axes which laid out weighty programmed elements. The first lateral axis crosses the pool in front of the palace, and it is along from north to south. There are the Lake of the Swiss Guard at the end the north point, and the Fountain of the Dragon and Neptune’s Pool at the end the south point. The subsequent lateral axes lead to the bosquets between the Latona Fountain and Apollo Fountain. The final large lateral axis is the Petit Canal which crosses Grand Canal and runs from the north to south. The whole gardens lay out geometrically. However, the Katsura garden was organized following natural form. It covered seventeen acres and was surrounded by thickets of high bamboo wall. In the center of the garden, there is a lake with three different sizes of isles, and a major building is located on the west side of the lake. The lake has rugged contours, so the sceneries changes from different views. A pathway is around the lake and connects the building and tea houses. The first tea house is the Gepparo Tea House on the north east of the major building. Following the pathway to the south, it leads to the Enrindo Tea House, the Shoka-tei Tea House, and the Shokin-tei Tea House. The whole garden was organized cleverly that people can see many various natural landscapes when they walk around the garden. Therefore, it is contrary about spatial organization between Versailles gardens and Katsura garden, including size and forms.
Versailles represented the ultimate manifestation of French Royal power and authority.

Specially, Versailles showed off Louis XIV power, Sun King. The central axis which crosses the Sun King room in the palace is in line with the sun’s path. The room was the focal point and the sun round which the lesser stars of the court revolved. The main axis connects the Fountain of Latona and the Fountain of Apollo which is a rich with mythological symbol and also an allegorical representation of the Sun King by means of ancient mythology. Moreover, it communicated the message that Louis XIV was not only as glorious as the Sun God but also enjoyed a status equal to that of the greatest emperors of all time. The central axis gives the optical impression of becoming lost on the horizontal because it presents the powerful and world renowned illusion of extending for eternity along the west horizontal, where the sun sets. The main axis lost on the horizon, leaving one with the impression that everything is subordinated to the laws of geometrical order which rules of the world whose only direction is the Sun King. The geometric design of the garden shows the controlling nature of human. On the contrary, the Katsura garden contains the essentials of Zen Buddhism, and was intended for occasional occupancy as a place for reflection, relaxation, creative works, and contemplation of nature. The Katsura garden was designed asymmetrical without a main axis. The bamboo wall around the garden presented a distinct harmony between the natural and artificial. It is different with Europe style which the trees are created into artificial patters. Structure of the bamboo wall showed the subtle artistry of the designer who did not take a natural form and bend it to his will. The tea houses where people enjoy tea into a spiritual ritual symbolizing detached perfection in the Zen Buddhism were set in a Zen inspired landscape. The tea houses were designed with small irregular structures that

expressly incorporate the qualities of harmony, reverence, purity and silence. The tea houses were built by rustic elements, including wooden pieces of irregular shape and bark of wooden supports that extend the natural world. The Katsura garden presented simplicity, naturalness, and no distinction that based on social class. Hence, the Versailles gardens showed controlling nature; in the contract, the Katsura garden displayed the closer with nature.
The fountains and flower beds are significant of the Gardens of Versailles. The gardens have about eleven main water fountains. The fountains designed with water cascading over bold statues, water sprays, themes from Greek and Roman mythology. One of the most important fountains is the Fountain of Latona in the central axis. The sculpture in the fountain created a scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when the residents of Lycia refused the fleeing Latona and her children, Diana and Apollo. As punishment, they were changed into half frogs and half men which of course hint at contemporary political conflicts in France and the victory of the crown. The Fountain of Apollo depicts Apollo with three men blowing horns on a chariot which pulled by four horses. When the statue combined with the surging water jetting high into the sky, it conveyed an image of power and the light of the life to mankind. Moreover, the Grande Commande in the subsequent lateral axes is a series of twenty four statues which illustrate the classic quaternary of the four humors, the four parts of the day, the four parts of the world, the four forms of poetry, the four elements and the four seasons. The flower beds are beautiful because they combined various color patterns of plants in complex forms which followed Baroque styles. Besides, the tea houses are significant of the Katsura garden. They were built of rustic material and designed for different outlook. The Gepparo Tea House was called the Moon Wave Pavilion. It is on higher ground looking down the lake, so people can enjoy the best views of the harvest moon which is reflected in the lake. The Enrindo Tea House is known as the Laughing Thoughts Pavilion because there are uncharacteristic row of six round windows on the upper wall of the entry room and they give for people a feeling that the building is laughing them. The Shoka-tei Tea House is referred to as the Flower Appreciation Pavilion, and many cherry trees were planted around it. It is a smallest teahouse on highest position of the garden and has the best view to look the main building through the tree. The Shokin-tei Tea House roughly means Pine Lute Pavilion, as pine trees surround it. It elevated not far above the water level of the lake, so it is the first place which people can see the lake. Thus, it is diverse about detail elements of the Versailles gardens and Katsura garden that people look into stories of the sculptures in the Versailles gardens but people enjoy beautiful sceneries from the tea house.
In conclusion, both the Versailles gardens and Katsura garden are distinctive about spatial organization, belief, and details. Each garden presents the particular of Europe architecture and East Asia architecture. However, there are many interesting things about two gardens which archaeologists still research. A ton of visitors come to the two places every year to enjoy wonderful gardens.