A show of respect

The Thai pavilion at Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens is a symbol of the Thai culture’s respect for teachers. Photo courtesy of Olbrich Botanical Gardens

The Thai culture holds teachers in high regard.

And that aspect of Thai society is now represented as a featured element of Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The centerpiece of Olbrich’s Thai Garden is an authentic open-air Thai Pavilion — known as a sala — that was given to the University of Wisconsin-Madison by the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association and the government of Thailand through its king.

“Because there are so many Thais in school in Madison, they gave us this to show respect to the teachers here,” said Connie Beam, Olbrich’s director of development and marketing.

Because the gift was approved by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, it is especially colorful and ornate, and it bears the royal seal of the Thai Crown.

The pavilion — 40 feet long, 22 feet wide and 30 feet high — was crafted by Thai artisans and shipped to Madison for reassembly. There are no nails or screws used in its construction.

Olbrich was chosen as the site for the pavilion, and a reflecting pool and Thai-inspired garden were created to complement the structure’s lacquer finish and intricate gold etchings.

But recreating the splendor of a subtropical garden in the Midwest was a challenge the Olbrich staff had to meet with creativity, Beam said.

“What we’ve tried to do in the Thai Garden is use hardy Midwest plants that look like Thai plants,” she said. The Kentucky coffee tree, for instance, can be pruned to give the effect of a palm tree, and it can stand up to Wisconsin’s heat, humidity and bitter cold.

A variety of tropical plants are also woven in, although many move inside in intemperate weather, Beam said.

Since its opening, the Thai Garden drew some noteworthy visitors. Most recently, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States of America, Virasakdi Futrakul, came to enjoy the scenery. His July 27 visit followed a 2005 appearance by Crown Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

“It’s really wonderful that Thai representatives come to Madison,” Beam said. “It says to us we’ve made a real connection.”

- Jennifer Pfaff

The history of northern Wisconsin’s landscape takes center stage in an exhibit at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. Photo courtesy of Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center

Back to the land

Landscape architects often spend their time focused on shaping the environment to a client’s specific requests while balancing those needs with respect for aesthetics, history and culture.

Janet Silbernagel, associate professor of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is helping visitors to Wisconsin’s Northwoods understand the many roles of modern landscape and landscape architecture by opening a window to the past.

Her exhibit, “The Landscape Tapestry of Cultivation in Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Region,” is on display through mid-December at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland.

“The exhibit presents four different regional foods grown up here, and the tapestries are the background images,” said Linda Mittlestadt, archivist for the Wisconsin Historical Society. “Each has unique stitching that represents the topic.”

The landscape stories of orchards, Ojibwe gardens, wild rice harvests and maple syrup production are told through artwork, maps, sketches, photography, narratives and artifacts.

“It gives people an idea of what the heritage is,” Mittlestadt said. “A lot of people come here and think it is just woods and water.” — Jennifer Pfaff