...I think the best thing would be just a valley of an endless carpet of trees.
If we're going to do this, then can we have a river? I think that a winding river wending through the trees of a valley just adds so much interest to a scene!
I do like green better, though your drawing, jennifer, was cool I do picture green for the jungles. But that's not to say we can't have color, green would just give us a background to make some beautiful flowers and other pieces of art to go against. If the jungle was of reds and oranges and purples, who would want to look at the art?
I'm not attached to red, although all things being equal I like it better than green.
I'll tell you why; pretty much every world that we've visited so far is based on the standard green trees, blue sky model that we are familiar with. And this combination does provide a pleasing look. However, it is a look that we are familiar with, and does not offer as much alien beauty as a red jungle would. Take for example Eder Delin, which might have been located on Earth for how alien it felt. Now, no one would argue that Eder Delin is unaesthetically pleasing, but how interesting was it, when contrasted with more strangely appearing worlds? So, I'm not saying that familiar is bad, only that alienness is a plus!
And I do understand the concern about the jungle distracting from the art, but I think that this problem is going to have to be one for the artists to solve: if the jungle is distracting from their artwork, then they need to make their artwork even MORE distracting to get the viewers' attention back. I'm not really too worried about that factor though; once the viewer goes inside the museum to view the art, he'll be shielded from the outside atmosphere and shouldn't be overly distracted by it. Further, people tend to get bored of static beauty fairly quickly, so I suspect that people will soon buzz right past the red jungle and garden to go see the new art installations, unless of course they're in a sightseeing mood. But I'll ask the DZS what they would prefer for a color; if they're going to be working on designing the plants and animals with us, then we should get their input on what they'd like. (By the way, I just had a picture of pinkish/red and black tiger striped deer--I think that would be really neat, to see animals with their camouflage schemes adapted to red.)
Let me start by saying that while I am deeply in love with oriental design, I admit that a heavy handed style of it is to much for this project. For that reason and others you mentioned my first choice would be the first sketch also.
I think you're right Monkeyboy; much as Ruvinka and I love the way the Japanese built, it probably would put people in the wrong mood to view art from other cultures. Which isn't to say that the building can't have a light Japanese influence, just as long as it isn't too dominating. Our building needs a distinctive, strong style even if it isn't completely Japanese, the alternative being a museum that appears bland and nondescript.
...The building is just a means to an end, an end of which is the storing and presentation of artworks.
...About the general landscape...I absolutely loved the idea of the tiers, but they might prove to be distracting. The landscape should provide an environment that focuses the viewer back to the art housed there. Each area that has outdoor art should enhance the viewers experience with that art, not take away from it.
Hm, just in terms of our general philosophy of design, I think we should avoid the assumption that everything we make should sacrifice its own beauty and natural attraction for the sake of channeling our patrons' focus toward the art exhibits. The ultimate end of this design philosophy is to display the art pieces without any distraction from them at all--an effect which would best be produced by displaying them against a blank white wall. This would be ugly however... I would therefore suggest that we make it our goal to simply make the most beautiful place and exhibits that we can. In fact, we should use peoples' art submissions to enhance the beauty of our own constructions, as well as using our own constructions to enhance the beauty of their art--which, notice, was how the Kadish galley was so delightfully planned. No one element sacrificed to enhance the other, but both elements enhancing each other and contributing to the beauty of the whole. So what I'm saying is that if something would look nice, don't cut it out just because it might make the artwork look less nice by comparison. If the overall beauty of our Age suffers, it will reflect poorly on us as designers, and peoples' desire to showcase their artwork in the ERC will probably diminish.
I propose that we use trees and shrubs as "walls" to screen the exterior of the ERC as well as anything else that would be distracting. We can use the three solid wall design of the ERC with shrubs and trees to make each scuplture area its own room so to speak.
Sounds good to me; I would also mention that rocks might be advantageously used, and might offer a lower-vertex alternative to trees. I like blackish rocks...
A plain, smooth walkway connecting each of these rooms with the overlooks and the pavilion would in my opinion be a good choice. It reminds me of the marble floors of the Chicago Museum of Art. The floors are light in colour so you do not see a reflection of the art you are viewing. They are a constant, seemless surface that helps you to concentrate on the vibrant art you are viewing.
Whether or not we go for this will depend on the style of garden we choose. Are we still going to make it Japanese, or...?
From the pictures I've been looking at and from what I've been reading, it would seem that Japanese gardens try to appear to be formed naturally--they want to be sort of an "idealized nature" if that makes sense. Even the large, flat stones used for some their pathways are scattered about in an attempt to avoid looking too artificially placed. In terms of keeping the Age from having a strong oriental look, I doubt that having the gardens be done in Japanese style will be much of a problem in that respect. (Mostly because I think the average person
doesn't actually know what a Japanese garden looks like, except for perhaps the raked gravel technique.) Anyway, I have a feeling that if we decide to opt out of the Japanese garden style, we'll simply end up subconsciously reproducing the European style for the gardens, since that's what we're most familiar with. So my preference would be to stick with the Japanese look, for the garden at least, just too avoid excessive conventionality. But what do you guys think?
The pavilion, in my opinion, should not be constrained as the ERC in design. I'd say that Jennifer can have more freedom in the stylizing of it. The pavilion is far enough away from the ERC (and if we design the landscape right the two structures would not be in line of sight with each other) that it could have a slight resemblance to the ERC only.
Probably true; it might not even hurt to make it Japanese, as long as no art was stored nearby, and the pavilion was secluded from the main grounds sufficiently that it wouldn't pop into peoples' minds right away when they arrived. Actually, the Japanese had some intesting times in their pavilions--poetry reading parties, tea ceremonies, snow-viewing parties, moon-viewing parties, and fishing for some. But it doesn't have to be Japanese, just so long as it is interesting. And, if it wasn't themed Japanese, then we could probably place it much closer to the museum and also to the outdoor art. But choices have advantages and disadvantages.
Finally, as for the terraces--I can take them or leave them, really--I think that if we handle them wisely they could be an asset, but (like everything) if handly poorly, they could detract from the scene. And indeed, there are many lovely terrace pictures that follow the topography of the landscape on the internet. So I wouldn't give them an automatic boot, but I would would agree that we should see how things are shaping up before we commit to emplacing them. Why don't we leave the final decision on whether or not to have them until we have the main gardens and museum up and running? We shouldn't actually have an IC need of them until then anyway, when things start to fill up. At any rate, a nature walk as Monkeyboy suggested has certain charms of its own.
Of course, without the terraces, we will need a rocky cliff in front of the valley instead--otherwise, trees will get in the way of the view of the valley.
I just love that movie...
Faulker, cubism, Ulysses...I don't know how you can stand them, really I don't! 
