Going Beyond the Allée When Siting Sculpture

Around the U.S., landscape architects, designers and estate owners are getting imaginative about placing these works of art in homes

BY KATHLEEN QUIGLEY | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 4, 2019 | MANSION GLOBAL

On a Princeton, New Jersey, estate, landscape designer Ronni Hock sited a status of Buddha as the focal point, placing it on a boulder as a rustic throne. The goal was to create quiet and calm on the site. Everything in the garden directs the eye to a statue of Buddha, which was a gift to the owner.

"We stop the eye behind it with a clean green wall," said Ms. Hock, a former model who estimated the project budget at $35,000 to $40,000. Bluestone steps leading to the patio also draw the eye to Buddha, which is lit at night. 

Hock suggested exploring the site very thoroughly to determine the siting, ascertaining the perspectives from which the client wants to see the artwork. And deciding whether softness, as in plantings as a surround is wanted, or a hard, concrete surround, with negative space (no plantings) as often found in museums.