Zen Impact
Text: Ar. M. Sayem Ghayur
Photography: IDS Studio & Ar. M. Sayem Ghayur
Project – Interior Design Development
Client – Nirvana Day Spa & Salon
Architect – Impact Design Studio (IDS)
Design Team:
Usman S. Khan
Ibrahim Khan
Amer Shakoor
Electrical Consultant – SEM Engineers
HVAC Consultant – Universal Consultants
Covered Area – 7,500 square feet
Year of Completion – June 2006
Different degrees of modernity have become the raison d’être of the ever widening rift between the lifestyles of the East and the West. West has isolated itself from the religions of the world in essence with the ever-progressive quest of modernity. Eastern civilizations, on the other hand, don’t quite let go of their religious affiliations, despite being besieged by the very charms of modernity too.
Irrespective of geographical and cultural differences, the entire globe comes under the same spell of an indefinable confusion and spiritual emptiness which makes them all look for solutions, influences and inspirations in religions they don’t take much seriously otherwise. However, having a much modernized frame of mind, finding solutions and influences in age old perceptions, doesn’t remain all that simple, ending one up further more bamboozled.
Faster changes, in this age of ever advancing technology, have made human perception as superficial as the effect of such technology on our lives. Thus, we perceive religion with such modernity (read superficiality) too. Designers, musicians, and artists believe that simply replicating, or according to modern terminology: “copy-pasting”, the past, embodies spirituality.
Different degrees of modernity have become the raison d’être of the ever widening rift between the lifestyles of the East and the West. West has isolated itself from the religions of the world in essence with the ever-progressive quest of modernity. Eastern civilizations, on the other hand, don’t quite let go of their religious affiliations, despite being besieged by the very charms of modernity too.
Irrespective of geographical and cultural differences, the entire globe comes under the same spell of an indefinable confusion and spiritual emptiness which makes them all look for solutions, influences and inspirations in religions they don’t take much seriously otherwise. However, having a much modernized frame of mind, finding solutions and influences in age old perceptions, doesn’t remain all that simple, ending one up further more bamboozled.
Faster changes, in this age of ever advancing technology, have made human perception as superficial as the effect of such technology on our lives. Thus, we perceive religion with such modernity (read superficiality) too. Designers, musicians, and artists believe that simply replicating, or according to modern terminology: “copy-pasting”, the past, embodies spirituality.
Superficial admiration ends up proving blasphemous, religions are too complicated to be understood with a modern mode of thinking. Taking influence in religions demands respect, which can only be possible if they are understood properly and not superficially. Understanding a religion is a lot different from keeping oneself informed with updated technology. Religions are meant to be followed, not to get influenced with for the mere purpose of reflection in commercial art forms.
A lot less subversive but ill understood and unjust use of religious symbolism exists all around us (especially in Dubai) in the form of shopping malls using arches, domes, and calligraphy to merely represent Islamic architecture for commercial benefit of the built space. Architects from around the world think that different elements, symbolic of Islamic architecture, make mosques. When the religion itself specifies no physical prerequisites to offer daily prayers, all you need to have to offer prayers, are pure intentions, faith and a clean place. But having grand and ornate mosques doesn’t end up being blasphemous also, they just don’t resonate with the act of bending before god in humility, and don’t stand true to the teachings of the religion they intend to serve, thus proving to be a weak representation of a strong faith.
Much recently I had the opportunity to visit an architecture office in Islamabad and to my surprise the office had to have a name completely true to its personality. The Impact Design Studio (IDS) did not fail to leave an everlasting impact with the studio’s own interior and that of the project I was supposed to review. The interior design of Nirvana Day Spa and Salon couldn’t have been mistaken by IDS as any other project due to the highly motivating nature of the spa and its befitting concept-deriving name.
In Buddhism, Nirvana is the happiest state of mind attained through enlightenment or “bodhi” and not through impermanent things. The IDS started thinking on the lines of taking influence in Zen Aesthetics, and the project doesn’t let the spirit of the Japanese aesthetics down, to say the least. Trying to manipulate how it did justice to the Zen religion is pointless because the spa business is not concerned with the spread of the religion; it uses the religion as a mere commercial gimmick and in any case Zen focuses on the spiritual reality of life and not the commercial. The IDS has tackled the contradiction quite brilliantly, if you want to attain Nirvana in this age you surely won’t have to go to a monk in a monastery, make it to the spa and forget about learning and meditating, and luckily, the spa has a very well-trained staff to do the job quite dexterously.
Zen is one of the oldest traditional schools of Buddhism, it evolved from Buddhism due to an Indian monk, Bohdidharma, who had gone to China around 500 A.D. to spread the Dharma (word of Buddha). There, getting acquainted with the strict self reliance of Taoism gave the meditative practices of Buddhism a new wearing; Chinese called it Cha’an, Koreans called it Son, and Japanese identified it as Zen.
ZEN BUDDHISM
Zen Buddhism focuses on the attainment of Nirvana, or enlightenment, while living in the same routine as of before living Zen. Zen is about knowing your inner self, the environment and the nature better. It’s about doing whatever you do in the best way possible, with cleanliness, usability and simplicity in mind. Whatever is not useful is not required. Enlightenment has no physical change associated with it but ultimate inner peace; it has no affect on the daily life of the follower, as Wu Li puts it,
“Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”
According to Eihei Dogen, “enlightenment is like the moon reflected on water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.”
The most popular aspect of the religion is meditation, which is the practice of focusing on a single thought, “koan”, until the outside world seems to disappear completely. Zen has often been confused with other Asian cultural phenomenona like, T’ai Chi, Feng Shui, and Taoism. For long Zen gardens have been used to fill in leftover space inside office buildings and shopping malls, and a lot of stores offer little Zen fountains, little Buddha statues made of china, silk kimonos, or other things that represent Buddhism, but Zen has nothing much to do with its modern (read superficial) interpretation. And in addition to that, materialism and commercialism kill the idea of Zen-simplicity.
At the time when temples of the faith were required to be constructed came the question of designing in the Zen way as well, like doing all the other daily jobs with the same spirit. The underlining design directives do follow Zen principles but do not represent the religion itself. As a British Zen scholar R.H Blyth suggested that Zen is the unsymbolization of the world and all the things in it. No object, or commodity can make a space Zen-like, the experience of living and working in a space with the perception and awareness of an eternal you, your part in the universe, belief in cleanliness, simplicity, usefulness and unity of all things is Zen.
Based on the teachings of Zen philosophy, six basic aesthetic principles were formulated. “Fukinsei” or Assymetry realized that nothing is perfect in this world and therefore this imbalance creates all movement and energy. Stiff, formal symmetry, suggesting frozen finality and artificial perfection, can be fatal to the imagination. Asymmetry lets us be loose and spontaneous—more human than godlike. It means we can get by with one—or three—candlesticks, and all the china doesn’t have to match.
“Kanso” or simplicity is a key tenet of Zen. Embracing the everyday, unadorned things in life is to embrace truth.
“Koko” reflects vernanbility. Maturity with an edge of austerity is a hallmark for Zen thought. The patina on an old stone lantern, the feeling that a stone has always been in the garden, or the bleaching of weathered wood are all examples of this principle.
“Yugen” that is subtlety and mystery is found throughout Zen. The most prevalent element of yugen in a Zen garden is the use of miegakure, or “hide and reveal”, where the whole garden is not shown through a window, just a small piece. Or a bend in the path offers just the barest of hints of what waits around the corner. The play of shadows on the garden is another display of yugen “darkness”.
“Datsoku”, meaning otherworldliness, is the sense of a fantasy realm, a transcendence of this plane of existence that is so much part of the Japanese garden. As Zen maintains that everything is illusion, this is a very important concept.
And finally, “Seijak”, silence or stillness is probably the most central tenet of Zen. From silent meditation, to arrival at the “still point” or enlightenment, Seijak gives Zen spaces an inward orientation.
Bringing all these different landscape features into harmony is the true secret of this art which is made possible by quite a few symbolic elements. Stones act as reminders of the immovable mountain which made the centre of the world according to early Buddha thought. Stones are arranged in sets to symbolize early myths of the Buddha, the lesser buddhas and mythical carps such as the birth of dragon. Dripping water acts as a measure of time, each clack a reminder of the moment, besides being a symbol for cleansing and purification.
Plantations such as large bamboos, plums and pines are often found in Zen gardens. Canes are a perfect example of the principle of mushin or “empty heart” (the empty heart provides strength through flexibility). Plums flower without leaves, often while snow is still on the ground, symbolizing resilience and rebirth. Pine is set in a Zen garden as a symbol of strength and patience. Paths are used to represent life in general while “Hashi”, bridges, symbolize transition from the world of man into the world of nature.
“Tenkeibutsu”, ornaments, are profoundly used in Zen spaces; lanterns with the “hoju”, jewel, on its top symbolize enlightenment, and many use a lotus motif at the base or just under the firebox. Stupas are also found in gardens and point to heaven to show the way to dead souls. The tea basin is the repository for purifying water, again a symbol of life. Occasionally you may see a Frog figurine in gardens.
The Nirvana Day Spa & Salon is placed in a typical posh residential area of Islamabad. From the first look of the residence, inside which IDS has carved out a therapeutic retreat, it is quite evident that the spa doesn’t believe much in advertisement. There was no sign board of any sorts anywhere; you have to know the address personally to get to the spa. Once there, it was hard to be confident enough to enter it, because even the entrance wasn’t visible. Was this to a part of the concept? To add mystery from the point a customer enters? But once you get inside the spa, it’s a journey worth being referred to as Nirvana!
We were told to come before spa opens up for the customers, so we actually witnessed how the spa wakes up. We waited for the candles and lanterns to be lit, water bodies and music system to be turned on, and it took enough time to let us have morning coffee in the Nirvana café which happens to be at the backside of the spa.
The entire project is a medley of different materials, textures, lighting conditions, sounds and art pieces, making the whole space encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit. The spa is spread on two floors, what remains the same throughout are the candles, diffused-lit wall and roof planes, the wooden and metal sculptures, the gravel and white pebble ponds, the bamboo installations and the water fountains. The two floors and the cafeteria of the very sensitively detailed spa are woven together into an everlasting journey of Japanese origin and quite respectfully Zen.
There is not much asymmetry in the candle and stone arrangements, neither are there any bridges inside the spa. However the space where the two floors connect through a staircase, reads very much like a bridge of sorts, symbolically speaking. The ground floor has hard tiled flooring and the upper floor has rustic wooden flooring. There is a shared Nail Bar on the ground floor and single-bed rooms (Vichi Room, Massage Rooms and Facial Rooms) on the first floor. The program difference is enhanced by the difference in architectural detailing and the transitions of mental state (of relaxation) feel highlighted. The more time you spend, the further experience you get inside the spa with focused attention coming as an obligation.
The staircase area has a lot of detailing worth mentioning, including the diffused plane with a water fountain in the middle on the mid-landing, the candle stand on the floor below the centralized water fountain, the ornate mirror on the side wall reflecting the ‘zenomania’ of this space, and the candles adorned screen-wall with a floral mesh of metal and a pebble pond skirting beneath.
To get to the cafeteria, once you step out of the spa you see sculptures positioned inside a large water body with signs of moss and wearing out stone. You have to take a meandering graveled path with slate stepping stones to get to a wooden portal that enters you into the cafeteria. The cafeteria has table tops with white pebbles in them and cane sofas. Besides the interior, the cafeteria offers delectable coffee also.
Designing religious spaces is one of the hardest jobs for an architect; this project was a bit complicated for that category also because it was a commercial project with a concept based in religion. The architects did a good job by taking a conservative approach towards Zen, in the case that designers take a personally sparked modern approach towards a primitive religion, they end up offending it.
An old Zen story tells of a traveling monk who came to a monastery on a chilly evening. He was cold, so he took one of the Wooden Buddha statues to make fire. The head monk caught him in the act and inquired in horror about why he was burning the statue, the monk replied “to get the holy essence”, listening to this the head monk objected about how a statue would give him the holy essence, to which the traveler monk suggested, “if the holy essence is not in it, then why shouldn’t I burn it?” The moral of the story emphasizes the value of things to be gauged with their usability and not their representation and all of us have to learn.
Photography: IDS Studio & Ar. M. Sayem Ghayur
Project – Interior Design Development
Client – Nirvana Day Spa & Salon
Architect – Impact Design Studio (IDS)
Design Team:
Usman S. Khan
Ibrahim Khan
Amer Shakoor
Electrical Consultant – SEM Engineers
HVAC Consultant – Universal Consultants
Covered Area – 7,500 square feet
Year of Completion – June 2006
Different degrees of modernity have become the raison d’être of the ever widening rift between the lifestyles of the East and the West. West has isolated itself from the religions of the world in essence with the ever-progressive quest of modernity. Eastern civilizations, on the other hand, don’t quite let go of their religious affiliations, despite being besieged by the very charms of modernity too.
Irrespective of geographical and cultural differences, the entire globe comes under the same spell of an indefinable confusion and spiritual emptiness which makes them all look for solutions, influences and inspirations in religions they don’t take much seriously otherwise. However, having a much modernized frame of mind, finding solutions and influences in age old perceptions, doesn’t remain all that simple, ending one up further more bamboozled.
Faster changes, in this age of ever advancing technology, have made human perception as superficial as the effect of such technology on our lives. Thus, we perceive religion with such modernity (read superficiality) too. Designers, musicians, and artists believe that simply replicating, or according to modern terminology: “copy-pasting”, the past, embodies spirituality.
Different degrees of modernity have become the raison d’être of the ever widening rift between the lifestyles of the East and the West. West has isolated itself from the religions of the world in essence with the ever-progressive quest of modernity. Eastern civilizations, on the other hand, don’t quite let go of their religious affiliations, despite being besieged by the very charms of modernity too.
Irrespective of geographical and cultural differences, the entire globe comes under the same spell of an indefinable confusion and spiritual emptiness which makes them all look for solutions, influences and inspirations in religions they don’t take much seriously otherwise. However, having a much modernized frame of mind, finding solutions and influences in age old perceptions, doesn’t remain all that simple, ending one up further more bamboozled.
Faster changes, in this age of ever advancing technology, have made human perception as superficial as the effect of such technology on our lives. Thus, we perceive religion with such modernity (read superficiality) too. Designers, musicians, and artists believe that simply replicating, or according to modern terminology: “copy-pasting”, the past, embodies spirituality.
Superficial admiration ends up proving blasphemous, religions are too complicated to be understood with a modern mode of thinking. Taking influence in religions demands respect, which can only be possible if they are understood properly and not superficially. Understanding a religion is a lot different from keeping oneself informed with updated technology. Religions are meant to be followed, not to get influenced with for the mere purpose of reflection in commercial art forms.
A lot less subversive but ill understood and unjust use of religious symbolism exists all around us (especially in Dubai) in the form of shopping malls using arches, domes, and calligraphy to merely represent Islamic architecture for commercial benefit of the built space. Architects from around the world think that different elements, symbolic of Islamic architecture, make mosques. When the religion itself specifies no physical prerequisites to offer daily prayers, all you need to have to offer prayers, are pure intentions, faith and a clean place. But having grand and ornate mosques doesn’t end up being blasphemous also, they just don’t resonate with the act of bending before god in humility, and don’t stand true to the teachings of the religion they intend to serve, thus proving to be a weak representation of a strong faith.
Much recently I had the opportunity to visit an architecture office in Islamabad and to my surprise the office had to have a name completely true to its personality. The Impact Design Studio (IDS) did not fail to leave an everlasting impact with the studio’s own interior and that of the project I was supposed to review. The interior design of Nirvana Day Spa and Salon couldn’t have been mistaken by IDS as any other project due to the highly motivating nature of the spa and its befitting concept-deriving name.
In Buddhism, Nirvana is the happiest state of mind attained through enlightenment or “bodhi” and not through impermanent things. The IDS started thinking on the lines of taking influence in Zen Aesthetics, and the project doesn’t let the spirit of the Japanese aesthetics down, to say the least. Trying to manipulate how it did justice to the Zen religion is pointless because the spa business is not concerned with the spread of the religion; it uses the religion as a mere commercial gimmick and in any case Zen focuses on the spiritual reality of life and not the commercial. The IDS has tackled the contradiction quite brilliantly, if you want to attain Nirvana in this age you surely won’t have to go to a monk in a monastery, make it to the spa and forget about learning and meditating, and luckily, the spa has a very well-trained staff to do the job quite dexterously.
Zen is one of the oldest traditional schools of Buddhism, it evolved from Buddhism due to an Indian monk, Bohdidharma, who had gone to China around 500 A.D. to spread the Dharma (word of Buddha). There, getting acquainted with the strict self reliance of Taoism gave the meditative practices of Buddhism a new wearing; Chinese called it Cha’an, Koreans called it Son, and Japanese identified it as Zen.
ZEN BUDDHISM
Zen Buddhism focuses on the attainment of Nirvana, or enlightenment, while living in the same routine as of before living Zen. Zen is about knowing your inner self, the environment and the nature better. It’s about doing whatever you do in the best way possible, with cleanliness, usability and simplicity in mind. Whatever is not useful is not required. Enlightenment has no physical change associated with it but ultimate inner peace; it has no affect on the daily life of the follower, as Wu Li puts it,
“Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”
According to Eihei Dogen, “enlightenment is like the moon reflected on water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.”
The most popular aspect of the religion is meditation, which is the practice of focusing on a single thought, “koan”, until the outside world seems to disappear completely. Zen has often been confused with other Asian cultural phenomenona like, T’ai Chi, Feng Shui, and Taoism. For long Zen gardens have been used to fill in leftover space inside office buildings and shopping malls, and a lot of stores offer little Zen fountains, little Buddha statues made of china, silk kimonos, or other things that represent Buddhism, but Zen has nothing much to do with its modern (read superficial) interpretation. And in addition to that, materialism and commercialism kill the idea of Zen-simplicity.
At the time when temples of the faith were required to be constructed came the question of designing in the Zen way as well, like doing all the other daily jobs with the same spirit. The underlining design directives do follow Zen principles but do not represent the religion itself. As a British Zen scholar R.H Blyth suggested that Zen is the unsymbolization of the world and all the things in it. No object, or commodity can make a space Zen-like, the experience of living and working in a space with the perception and awareness of an eternal you, your part in the universe, belief in cleanliness, simplicity, usefulness and unity of all things is Zen.
Based on the teachings of Zen philosophy, six basic aesthetic principles were formulated. “Fukinsei” or Assymetry realized that nothing is perfect in this world and therefore this imbalance creates all movement and energy. Stiff, formal symmetry, suggesting frozen finality and artificial perfection, can be fatal to the imagination. Asymmetry lets us be loose and spontaneous—more human than godlike. It means we can get by with one—or three—candlesticks, and all the china doesn’t have to match.
“Kanso” or simplicity is a key tenet of Zen. Embracing the everyday, unadorned things in life is to embrace truth.
“Koko” reflects vernanbility. Maturity with an edge of austerity is a hallmark for Zen thought. The patina on an old stone lantern, the feeling that a stone has always been in the garden, or the bleaching of weathered wood are all examples of this principle.
“Yugen” that is subtlety and mystery is found throughout Zen. The most prevalent element of yugen in a Zen garden is the use of miegakure, or “hide and reveal”, where the whole garden is not shown through a window, just a small piece. Or a bend in the path offers just the barest of hints of what waits around the corner. The play of shadows on the garden is another display of yugen “darkness”.
“Datsoku”, meaning otherworldliness, is the sense of a fantasy realm, a transcendence of this plane of existence that is so much part of the Japanese garden. As Zen maintains that everything is illusion, this is a very important concept.
And finally, “Seijak”, silence or stillness is probably the most central tenet of Zen. From silent meditation, to arrival at the “still point” or enlightenment, Seijak gives Zen spaces an inward orientation.
Bringing all these different landscape features into harmony is the true secret of this art which is made possible by quite a few symbolic elements. Stones act as reminders of the immovable mountain which made the centre of the world according to early Buddha thought. Stones are arranged in sets to symbolize early myths of the Buddha, the lesser buddhas and mythical carps such as the birth of dragon. Dripping water acts as a measure of time, each clack a reminder of the moment, besides being a symbol for cleansing and purification.
Plantations such as large bamboos, plums and pines are often found in Zen gardens. Canes are a perfect example of the principle of mushin or “empty heart” (the empty heart provides strength through flexibility). Plums flower without leaves, often while snow is still on the ground, symbolizing resilience and rebirth. Pine is set in a Zen garden as a symbol of strength and patience. Paths are used to represent life in general while “Hashi”, bridges, symbolize transition from the world of man into the world of nature.
“Tenkeibutsu”, ornaments, are profoundly used in Zen spaces; lanterns with the “hoju”, jewel, on its top symbolize enlightenment, and many use a lotus motif at the base or just under the firebox. Stupas are also found in gardens and point to heaven to show the way to dead souls. The tea basin is the repository for purifying water, again a symbol of life. Occasionally you may see a Frog figurine in gardens.
The Nirvana Day Spa & Salon is placed in a typical posh residential area of Islamabad. From the first look of the residence, inside which IDS has carved out a therapeutic retreat, it is quite evident that the spa doesn’t believe much in advertisement. There was no sign board of any sorts anywhere; you have to know the address personally to get to the spa. Once there, it was hard to be confident enough to enter it, because even the entrance wasn’t visible. Was this to a part of the concept? To add mystery from the point a customer enters? But once you get inside the spa, it’s a journey worth being referred to as Nirvana!
We were told to come before spa opens up for the customers, so we actually witnessed how the spa wakes up. We waited for the candles and lanterns to be lit, water bodies and music system to be turned on, and it took enough time to let us have morning coffee in the Nirvana café which happens to be at the backside of the spa.
The entire project is a medley of different materials, textures, lighting conditions, sounds and art pieces, making the whole space encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit. The spa is spread on two floors, what remains the same throughout are the candles, diffused-lit wall and roof planes, the wooden and metal sculptures, the gravel and white pebble ponds, the bamboo installations and the water fountains. The two floors and the cafeteria of the very sensitively detailed spa are woven together into an everlasting journey of Japanese origin and quite respectfully Zen.
There is not much asymmetry in the candle and stone arrangements, neither are there any bridges inside the spa. However the space where the two floors connect through a staircase, reads very much like a bridge of sorts, symbolically speaking. The ground floor has hard tiled flooring and the upper floor has rustic wooden flooring. There is a shared Nail Bar on the ground floor and single-bed rooms (Vichi Room, Massage Rooms and Facial Rooms) on the first floor. The program difference is enhanced by the difference in architectural detailing and the transitions of mental state (of relaxation) feel highlighted. The more time you spend, the further experience you get inside the spa with focused attention coming as an obligation.
The staircase area has a lot of detailing worth mentioning, including the diffused plane with a water fountain in the middle on the mid-landing, the candle stand on the floor below the centralized water fountain, the ornate mirror on the side wall reflecting the ‘zenomania’ of this space, and the candles adorned screen-wall with a floral mesh of metal and a pebble pond skirting beneath.
To get to the cafeteria, once you step out of the spa you see sculptures positioned inside a large water body with signs of moss and wearing out stone. You have to take a meandering graveled path with slate stepping stones to get to a wooden portal that enters you into the cafeteria. The cafeteria has table tops with white pebbles in them and cane sofas. Besides the interior, the cafeteria offers delectable coffee also.
Designing religious spaces is one of the hardest jobs for an architect; this project was a bit complicated for that category also because it was a commercial project with a concept based in religion. The architects did a good job by taking a conservative approach towards Zen, in the case that designers take a personally sparked modern approach towards a primitive religion, they end up offending it.
An old Zen story tells of a traveling monk who came to a monastery on a chilly evening. He was cold, so he took one of the Wooden Buddha statues to make fire. The head monk caught him in the act and inquired in horror about why he was burning the statue, the monk replied “to get the holy essence”, listening to this the head monk objected about how a statue would give him the holy essence, to which the traveler monk suggested, “if the holy essence is not in it, then why shouldn’t I burn it?” The moral of the story emphasizes the value of things to be gauged with their usability and not their representation and all of us have to learn.
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