Awaji Yumebutai (Hyakudan-en)

photo by 663highland · CC BY 2.5

photo by 663highland · CC BY 2.5

A hundred terraced flowerbeds on a quarry emptied to build Kansai Airport.

The complex occupies a rock quarry from which, for years, material was taken to fill in the sea and build the artificial islands of Osaka Bay, Kansai Airport included: 130 hectares of excavated mountain, returned to greenery by the architect Andō Tadao's project and opened in 2000. The Hyakudan-en, ‘garden of a hundred steps’, is the most photographed part: a hundred small square flowerbeds laid out like a chequerboard on a staircase climbing the slope, conceived by Andō as a ‘garden of prayer’ for the victims of the 1995 Kobe-Awaji earthquake. From the pool of the Circular Forum, an open-air concrete amphitheatre 32 metres in diameter, the view takes in the whole complex.

A complex of contemporary architecture on the northern coast of Awaji, comprising an international conference centre, a hotel, a botanical greenhouse and gardens, all designed by Andō Tadao on a former rock quarry.

ℹ️ You can visit the Hyakudan-en freely and at no charge at any time. The ‘Awaji Green-House’ greenhouse is open 10:00–17:00, 750 yen; guided tours of the complex 660 yen per person (minimum 10 people, 60–90 minutes).

🚉 淡路夢舞台前 · 10 min walk

Sources: yumebutai.co.jp · trafficnews.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

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