Buddhist Landscape
Abdullah 037
Roh Ul Ameen 059
Umar Abdullah 069

Buddhism
• Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions and
originated 2,500 years ago in India, in the fifth century BCE.
• Buddhists believe that the human life is one of suffering,
and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good
behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or
nirvana.
• Followers of Buddhism don't acknowledge a supreme god or
deity.
• They instead focus on achieving enlightenment—a state of
inner peace and wisdom.
• The religion's founder, Buddha, is considered an
extraordinary being, but not a god.

Relation between Buddhism and
landscape
• Buddhism has a great influence on landscape. It has direct
relation with its teachings.
• As Buddhists are taught to achieve the ultimate goal of
happiness and enlightenment, this factor plays a major role
in their landscaping.
• Buddhists believe in inner peace and in the concept of
‘chakras’ and ‘3rd eye concept’.
• The basic practice of finding inner peace and staying calm in
every situation is meditation and this leads to all the other
concepts, teachings and practices of Buddhists.
• In order to achieve all these goals, the environment and
landscape around the monasteries are built in a very unique
fashion.

Why Monasteries Are Often Built On
Mountains?
• One of the main reasons that monasteries are
often built on mountains is because of the
peaceful and secluded atmosphere that they
provide.
• Being high up on a mountain often allows monks
to feel closer to God, and it also helps them to
avoid distractions from the outside world.
• Some were built in the mountains for monks who
desired to reduce their involvement in the daily
grind.
• Additionally, building a monastery on a
mountainside can be a way to protect it from
attacks or other dangers.

Environment, Buddhism and Landscape
• Buddhism has direct relation with environment
when it is about Landscapes around their
monasteries.
• Environment has strong influence on the mood
and social behavior of the people living in that
particular area.
• Buddhists prefer a calm, soothing, relaxing and
peaceful environment to practice their
teachings.
• Buddha did recognize that local communities
could be affected in both positive and negative
way by the context of the environment.
• It is most effective while practicing the chakras
and opening of the 3rd eye.

Water and Buddhism
• Water is always found in places where Buddhists are
accommodated.
• Water is chosen as a symbol of purity, and because in
many places it is plentiful, and does not require hurting
others to give it.
• Water is seen as a life giver in Buddhism. Water
symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.
• Water also represents hospitality which is a major part of
the teachings of Buddhism.
• Water is purified by monks reciting
specific chants. This holy water is used in
blessings for birthdays, anniversaries and
marriage ceremonies.

Greenery and Buddhism
• In Buddhism, trees have long been recognized as living
things worthy of recognition and protection.
• Buddha was born in the lush Lumbini grove and later
became enlightened under a bodhi tree.
• At the end of his life, he also physically passed (Pari
nibbana) while nestled in a grove of sal trees.
• The practice of tree ordination—in which monks tie
saffron robes around a tree—helps connect the
preservation of ecological systems to Buddhist identity.
• In Buddhism, the Five Precepts (pañca sila) form a basic
code of morality to guide human actions. The first precept
is to refrain from killing living beings.

Contemporary Buddhist landscape
• Contemporary people hardly understand the aim of the
old tradition and also the aim of Buddhism.
• There are two mains intentions to attract people to come.
First, providing new ceremonies but also distorting the
aim. And most of them are provided in commercial area or
even in mall which is unable to help people independent
from material.
• Second, architectural design of temple has been
developed from old style of temple which is respond to
only one specific period causing a distortion.
• Therefore, the Buddhist main idea stays unchanged and
should be maintained through new designed form, which
is able to respond to contemporary lifestyle, motivating
people to participate.

Contemporary Buddhist landscape
• Religious architecture holds weight. Inherently reflective
by nature, these buildings symbolize shared values, history
and cultural heritage, and Buddhist architecture is no
exception.
• Buddhist architecture has become increasingly common
throughout the world. Today, modern Buddhist temples
and spaces are designed with radically different styles that
express the different branches of the religion.
• Taking inspiration from symbolism and spiritual practices,
the designs are conceptually organized around nature and
spatial sequence. Built with careful attention to craft and
material detailing, the projects manifest Buddhist ideas
through façades and haptic relationships.
• Together, they showcase how designers are building
harmony through modern Buddhist architecture

Buddhist Retreat Centre by bureau
SLA, Hengstdijk, Netherlands
• Bureau SLA’s Metta Vihara Meditation
Centre is located near the Belgian border
in a small village.
• Designed for the Triratna Buddhist
Community, the structure provides a
meditation hall, housing, a library and a
dining hall.
• Building upon a common Mansard roof
form, the project includes corrugated
steel cladding and Western red cedar

PLANS

Nan Tien Institute and Cultural Centre by
Woods Bagot, Wollongong, Australia
• Woods Bagot’s Nan Tien Institute is located
across from the largest Buddhist temple in
the Southern Hemisphere in Wollongong,
Australia.
• Valuing space and avoiding hierarchy, the
project was modeled on the Buddhist
symbol of the lotus flower.
• The design rises from the site as a
‘cultivated an architecture’ that emerges
from the character and conditions of place.

Portland Japanese Garden by Kengo
Kuma and Associates,
• Portland Japanese Garden's new Cultural Village is a
modest, human-scaled set of buildings arranged
around a courtyard plaza, whose fourth side is the
existing, untouched gardens from the 1960s.
• There are four buildings, each with its own means of
merging into the dramatic slopes of the terrain, in
combination with the tall vertical lines of the Pacific
Northwest conifers: the Ticketing Pavilion floating above
gentle stepped ponds, the Tea Cafe hovering above the
ravine, and the main Village House and Garden House.

REFERENCES
• https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/buddhist/
• https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/nccn/the-contemporary-
buddhist-temple-project-pages.html
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z4b42hv/revision/3
• https://inhabitat.com/spiraling-day-lit-buddhist-temple-rises-from-a-pool-of-
floating-lotuses-in-china/
• https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/blessings-water-blessed-water-and-blessing-
water