Aquascape Styles 2

Now I want to share another styles thats yet distinguish styles form from my last post.

Zen Garden Styles

If you have ever looked or been to a Old Chinese Garden, you'll feel a sense of tranquility and balance in the whole scene or environment. A Zen aquascape is often overshadowed by the Nature Aquarium Style which took the Zen Style and developed it further. The Zen style focuses creating sophisticated and graceful layouts with aquatic plants and hardscapes. Bonsai Gardens are fantastic examples of this principle.

The Zen emphasizes the relation of objects (domination and subordination) whereas a Nature Aquarium Layout adheres to creating natural nature. There are old Japanese Aesthetical rules that dictate a Zen Garden (whether it's in an aquarium or a landscape). For example, the position of rocks must be in a specific arrangement and order to qualify it as a Zen Garden. 3-stone Iwagumi based aquascapes are examples uses of this technique.

Here's an example of a Zen inspired Aquascape.

Taiwanese Style

This style is another style that has been overshadowed and lost over the years. The Taiwanese style draws from Dutch Gardens, Zen Gardens and Amano's Nature Style to create aquascapes with high terraces and depth. Besides the terracing, small figurines, structures or other objects placed in the aquascape are also telling of when this style is employed. The overall goal is to create a living landscape.

Here's an example from the ADA competition