The Garden of the Unexpected

“It was a great privilege to be chosen to do this garden,” reflects Mona. “I love landscaping which I integrate in all my architectural projects, but I never thought I would become involved in one of the Matrimandir gardens. I certainly wasn't interested in participating in a competition about the gardens [see box] as I am not comfortable with competitions within the Auroville context. But one day I got a call from Andreas Bickford, a Canadian architect living in Australia and a friend of Joss Brooks of Pitchandikulam community. I had met him the year before at the Lorne Biennale in Australia. He encouraged me to participate. We would be a team of four, together with Joss who has created the Adyar Poonga Eco-Park in Chennai and Greg Burgess, a well-known Australian architect. We called ourselves ‘the Unexpected Four’ and started working and submitted a design. After a few months, we learned that our design had been shortlisted, and shortly afterwards that we had won the competition through a unique Auroville process where Aurovilians had the final say (and not the experts as would be usual. We then discussed with the Aurovilians Jyoti Eri and Lara Davis their shortlisted designs, and incorporated some of their elements into ours.” The work started on 21 February 2019 and took three and a half years to manifest, including a six-months’ slow down due to COVID. “Our team also underwent changes, due to the COVID pandemic, where the Australian architects couldn’t visit and help in the execution. Madhivanan G., a young Aurovilian architect, born in the Matrimandir nursery, became an integral part of our team instead.” The final Garden of the Unexpected consists of four sections: the Garden of Birth, the Garden of Adolescence, the Garden of Youthfulness and the Garden of the Eternal Child. 

Is the work finished? For us designers, yes,” says Mona. “But gardens always change. I see my involvement as a long term advisor and have developed the attitude that whatever you do in Auroville, at any time it can change, that nothing is permanent. So change must always be expected. But in its present manifestation, the garden is uniquely beautiful.”

This garden is about birth, joy and magic. An entrance portal defined by large granite boulders opens to a Wisdom tree. The path weaves through carefully curated low 

maintenance plants with randomly placed stones for seating. There is a natural lily pond (self-maintaining) with the sound of a fountain. An owl etched in the granite boulder overlooks the garden as children and adults put their head in the humming stone. As children have a tendency to put whatever they find into their mouth, the team has taken great care to only plant trees with edible fruits such as amla, kumquat, rose apple, jamun and bel, and safe to eat herbs such as brahmi and tulsi in all the gardens. A gentle slope wide enough for a wheelchair or pram marks the exit of the garden and leads to the Garden of Adolescence.

This garden is about hiding, creating and building. The entrance has a foyer of large granite boulders, and a pathway made from leftover granite pieces during the construction of Matrimandir meanders through a butterfly garden with splashes of scarlet, orange and yellow. Jasmine flowers flavour the air. One gently descends to a spacious garden filled with pebbles and rocks, where children play. This area is also used for rainwater harvesting. A bridge across this large open space with laterite boulders and laterite stone benches for parents to watch over the children playing in the garden completes the ensemble.

Garden of Youthfulness

This garden is about the struggle of retaining the playfulness and creativity of a child as we learn and grow. One enters the garden past high laterite menhirs (also found on the Matrimandir premises hiding in the bushes) on to a pathway that intertwines between four mature neem trees. The shade of the trees invites the visitors to pause and rest on the limestone rocks. The smell of the aromatic herbs planted in the Edible Curative Garden on the right waft through the breeze. A bit further on the highest point and on an axis to the Matrimandir is the copper-roofed Monsoon Pavilion, a place to retreat into and enjoy the rain. 'Juanita's rock', a huge rock that came from Juanita's garden in Felicity, provides the flooring. The pavilion is situated in a garden of pebbles whose area is precisely defined as a Shalagram - a symbolical connection to the Matrimandir's section. A gurgling brook in natural limestone rocks with fossils descends from the square pond next to the rock, to join a 5 mm deep lower pond at the base of the garden like a deep reflecting pool ending the journey of the stream. Both the pools are designed for children of all ages to play in or simply dip their feet in. A large wind chime gently adds to the sensorial experience of the space. A tree platform is hanging deftly from one of neem trees affording a bird's eye view of the garden and good breeze at any time of the day. Children are seen doing their homework here. Low hanging limestone rocks oscillate from the branches of the tree creating a mesmerizing experience with gravity of the earth. Granite stepping stones signal the entry into the Garden of Eternal Child.

Garden of Eternal Child

This garden's main feature is a grass covered area, encircled by beautiful 1.5 feet thick yellow cuddapah stone benches. Its 24 metres diameter is similar to that of the Matrimandir's Inner Chamber, while the stone encirclement has been inspired by the low granite benches that used to surround the Banyan Tree long ago. The area is used for gatherings and for group plays. This garden is the largest of the four and has the vast open view of the Matrimandir, the Banyan Tree and the amphitheater to the left. A grove of mixed indigenous low watering shrubs and trees as well as many plumerias brought from the Matrimandir nursery which were awaiting their final destination since years, complete this garden.

In my understanding, the word ‘children’ is referring not only to children in age, but also to the inner child and the evolution of the psychic being. In this regard the Garden of the Unexpected is a garden for people of all ages who are aspiring for inner and outer progress. This garden aims to bring forth the inner child in all of us,  encouraging connection with the psychic being.



Excerpt from the design presentation of Jyoti Naoki Eri

The aim of this garden is to give youth of all ages an experience of immersion in and reverence for nature. It aspires to lift the landscape into consciousness, to allow an access – both playful and serious – to enter and discover its nature, to peel off the surface and reveal an experience of wonder. This is a sacred meditation space which aims to quietly occupy children – indrawn – to slip away and reconnect with themselves. The landscape is raised for an inward discovery – to listen to all that is around and within.



Excerpt from the design presentation of Lara Davis



The competition:

An international open design competition was announced in June 2018, inviting design proposals for the Garden of the Unexpected. Twenty-two design entries were received. The jury comprised Ameeta Mehra, former Governing Board member of the Auroville Foundation, Kei Ishikawa, a landscape architect from Japan, Narad - Richard Eggenberger, a landscape designer from Auroville/USA, and Piero and Gloria Cicionesi, Auroville, architects from Italy who have been involved in the realization of Matrimandir since 1971. Stage 1 was the concept submissions. Feedback was given by the jury based on the parameters of concept and aesthetics, interactivity and engagement, sustainability and implementation and practicality. Eleven entries were then selected. Stage 2 Out of eleven entries, three entries were shortlisted. Stage 3 saw the eleven entries displayed at Unity Pavilion in Auroville. A public panel consisting of forty-two Aurovilians from diverse backgrounds selected the winning entry from the three shortlisted submissions. The team Unexpected Four was chosen to manifest the Garden of the Unexpected. The final stage involved the integration of interesting elements from the other two shortlisted designs as had been requested in the community feedback. Dreamweaving, in which positive critiquing and learning from each other’s strengths were given importance, resulted in the best aspects from the other two designs being integrated into the winning design, without it losing its essence.