The World’s Most Peculiar Gardens

Published October 22, 2012
Updated July 25, 2019
Waldspirale Peculiar Gardens

Source: Blogspot

Peculiar Gardens: Waldspirale, Germany

Waldspirale Garden

Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s contempt for straight lines and deference to patterns found within nature led him to design Waldspirale, or “forest spiral,” which is home to both people and trees in Germany. Inspired by the quote “If man walks in nature’s mist, then he is nature’s guest and must learn to behave as a well-brought-up [one],” Hundertwasser’s residential complex features scores of beech, maple and lime trees and gilded onion domes.

However, its over-the-top appearance isn’t purely his opus to the transcendent power of nature; the “green roof” reduces the urban heat island effect, serves as a natural insulator and reduces storm water runoff.

Waldspirale Garden Germany

Source: Blogspot

World's Most Peculiar Gardens

Source: Blogspot

The Step Garden ACROS at Fukuoka, Japan

Meant to connect a park to an office building, Japan’s Step Gardens serves as a rather lush link between the extent of human potential and the natural conditions that permit the goals to be achieved. Currently, the Step Gardens occupy over 5,400 square meters of space and house within them over 120 varieties of flora and 50,000 plants in total.

Step Garden Acros Fukuoka

Source: Inhabitat

Peculiar Gardens Acros

Source: Green Roofs

Acros World's Most Peculiar Gardens

Source: Geocaching

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.