The serviceberries blooming in Goodfellow Grove in spring . ( Photo by Jessica Farmer )
Design plans for the McVay Courtyard . ( Image courtesy Elisabeth C . Miller Library )
of the stones that I put in as rivers . We used big rocks to protect the inner courtyard plantings . Harold Tukey [ the director at the time ] was concerned that when people entered the courtyard and saw somebody sitting in the middle , they might think it was fully occupied . So , we arranged the shape of it to accommodate multiple people , with seating available on the low walls that formed the curves of the flowing rivers .
JO : Who worked with you on the rock arrangements ?
IR : Marenakos Rock Center [ in Preston , near Issaquah ]. It was coming on winter , and they showed me this huge rockslide and said ,
“ Pick the rocks you want .” So I just went around and said , “ I ’ ll take this , this , this , and this ,” and the idea was that the rocks would hold the soil up and make a bowl shape of the courtyard topography . Visitors could sit on the rocks but they would be encouraged not to walk diagonally across the sitting space .
JO : So , it ’ s sort of like a passive protection . You don ’ t have to have any sort of obvious barriers , but it sort of guides people almost subconsciously .
IR : That ’ s a good way of describing it , yes . And while Marenakos were placing the two big rocks at the entrance to the courtyard , I asked could they raise them up so they look like two hands holding each other . In my mind , I always think of the painting [“ Praying Hands ”] from the Middle Ages by Albrecht Dürer .
I didn ’ t want people to think , “ God , I have to pray now .” That wasn ’ t the intention . It was to make it as welcoming as possible while also nudging people to go to either side , rather than straight across .
JO : Interesting . I like that there ’ s a gesture in the rocks , almost .
Summer 2021 v 21