maru sankaku shikaku
2019

ABOUT

There is a garden called ○△□︎ -no-niwa Garden (Maru-Sankaku-Shikaku no niwa) which was created in 2006, in Kennin-ji, the oldest Zen Buddhist monastery in Kyoto, Japan, which itself dates from 1202. The circle represents water, triangle represents fire and square represents ground. The garden was created based on a Zenga (the practice and art of Zen Buddhist painting and calligraphy) by Gibon Sengai '○△□︎’ which was drawn around 1820. The Japanese title translates literally as (maru, sankaku, shikaku - circle, triangle, square), however it is sometimes translated into english as 'The Universe’, since some people believe it is drawn based on the truth of the universe. However, the drawing’s real meaning remains a mystery. The motif is very simple, however it stimulates discussion about the art, and it leads to conversation with people. We are drawing inspiration from Gibon’s work. We hope you will enjoy our creation at the hotel lobby, and hope you interpret it freely.