FGS South Island NZ Attracts Thousands of Visitors During Open Christchurch Day
In order to revitalize the urban development of Christchurch after the earthquake, the New Zealand charity Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making held the Open Christchurch event from 15th – 16th May. The event featured 46 representative buildings and monuments in Christchurch, including the old and new town halls, botanical gardens, city library, museums, art galleries, theatres, clock towers, green buildings, new and modern buildings, historic schools, churches and residential houses. Fo Guang Shan South Island NZ is the only Buddhist temple among the selected buildings, attracting thousands of visitors in two days.
Fo Guang Shan NZ Venerable Abbess Manshin led a group of more than ten Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) and Youth Adult Division (YAD) members from the North and South Islands to introduce the architectural concept of the temple to the public. Te Pūtahi also sent three volunteers to support the event. There were 6 designated sites at the temple, with each site staffed by several people. These sites included the outer wall, inner courtyard, experiential teaching area, art gallery, time corridor and main shrine. Each visitor was given a small Prince Siddhartha sticker as a badge for visiting the temple, as well as a book explaining the architectural philosophy of Buddha's Light in New Zealand - The Way of Life.
Most of the visitors were local, including architects, designers, teachers and other professionals. They were very interested and curious about the design of the temple and asked questions such as design concept, engineering methods, construction materials and the environmental impact of the building. Abbess Manshin led the team to provide more in-depth answers for these professionals, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the essence and characteristics of the building, adding much valuable experience and knowledge to the entire trip.
The Fo Guang Shan South Island NZ temple is a gift from Venerable Master Hsing Yun to Christchurch as a tranquil space in service to the public. The main concept of the building is to present a practitioner's mind after the end of prosperity, and the architectural concept of simplifying and blurring the interface. The design is inspired by the statues of the Longmen Grottoes, which represent the daily Buddhist disciplinary practice of walking, sleeping, sitting and lying. In addition, the temple is a green building that cherishes life and conserves resources, using rough cut stone walls to express the thinking of the practitioner and with simple wood and clear water to reflect the heart of a still monk. As the building materials get closer to the essence of nature, the building itself gets closer to the heart and soul. The temple is a building composed of art, faith, spirituality and knowledge and it has been awarded the NZIA Supreme New Zealand Award and 2007 Civic Trust Awards.
The courtyard of the FGS South Island NZ temple is characterised by the Ch’an painting on the cement wall, which is the work of Clark Esplin, a famous New Zealand painter, who used ink to paint the Zen monk walking through aging trees in the mountain in search of a teacher and spiritual path. The Buddha and Happiness Bell in the courtyard were very popular and the visitors often rang the bell to make a wish. In the hands-on teaching area, the Life of Buddha video was played to the audience. Also, people could make origami lotus flowers and get Three Good Deeds and Four Giving water tattoos. The art gallery is currently holding the Magnificence of Embroidery Exhibition, in which artist Yao Hong Ying uses needles and threads to create colourful embroidery works, giving Christchurch people a chance to see the time-honoured Suzhou Embroidery, one of the Four Great Embroideries of China, appearing uniquely here as a double-sided embroidery display.
The time corridor showed the wisdom of the ancients in predicting time by light and shadow, reminding the public that "When the day has passed, life will diminish with it, so be diligent and careful not to let go the chance of diligent". New Zealand's South Island is located latitude of 40-46 degrees South, and the daylight hours vary in length from season to season. The light projected through the time corridor’s windows describes the change of seasons, and the light and shadow even penetrate into the adjacent main shrine. The Open door to the Mountain idea is another special architectural feature of the temple. The jade Buddha statue inside the temple looks out on the port hill, witnessing the changing of the four seasons, interpreting the meaning of Ch’an that speaks to the heart.
Many visitors to the temple on Riccarton Road in Christchurch, said that they had passed by it many times but never set foot into it until the Christchurch Open Day. Upon knowing that it was open to the public, they eagerly came to appreciate the architectural features. The visit to the temple was very rewarding and they were amazed by every corner of the building. Not only did they learn about architectural concepts, they also found out about alternative perspectives on aesthetics, philosophy and life values. Many people were so impressed that they said they would continue to come back and explore more of the inner mysteries.