Hill of the Buddha

Hill of the Buddha
頭大仏
Map
General information
LocationMakomanai Takino Cemetery, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
OpenedDecember 2015
Design and construction
Architect(s)Tadao Ando
Reflecting pool

The Hill of the Buddha (Japanese: 頭大仏, Hepburn: Atama Daibutsu, "Large Buddha's Head") is a Buddhist shrine at Makomanai Takino Cemetery (Japanese: 真駒内滝野霊園) in Sapporo, Japan, designed by Japanese modernist architect Tadao Ando.[1] The shrine features a 13.5 m (44 ft) tall statue of the Buddha encircled by an artificial hill rotunda planted with 150,000 lavender plants.[2]

The design incorporated the pre-existing Buddha statue, which was sculpted circa 2000 and stood solitary. On approaching the statue, only the head sticks out from the hill, and the shrine is entered through a tunnel for a full view of the statue inside of the open rotunda.[3] The building opened in December 2015.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ Barba-Court, Kala (2017-09-26). "Architect Tadao Ando builds a lavender-covered hill around a Buddha sculpture". PLAIN Magazine. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  2. ^ "Tadao Ando surrounds huge buddha statue with lavender-covered mound". Dezeen. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. ^ a b "Vitra | The Hill of the Buddha". Vitra. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  4. ^ "Om-believable Buddha in Rings of Lavender". Hyperallergic. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2019-02-26.

42°55′14″N 141°21′46″E / 42.92056°N 141.36275°E / 42.92056; 141.36275