AAPPAA Style

With so many visits to Asian-themed sims lately, the acquisition of a couple of Ryusho Ort’s builds (see some of his works in two previous posts, [1] and [2]), and a 4096 sq.m. empty lot, it was a matter of time –a very short time–before I turn the prims to face the Orient. It may sound harsh (I hope not), but all I knew from Asian cultures –except for what everybody else knows– were chow mein and sushi, mmm. I’m exaggerating a little bit, as usual; the point is, aside from admiring Asian architecture and landscaping exclusively from pictures taken by others, I have never thought of recreating an Oriental garden in SL. Yet, better late than never, or as it sounds more “poetic” in Spanish: Nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena.

I had already started building the first version of my Asian garden when I had to contact Ryusho Ort to help me solve a minor problem with one of his build packs. It was that week when the world thought the SL marketplace would collapse judging by the number of complains I heard from others and from first hand experience. I wanted to surround most of the available space with a wall, and a couple of gates, and the Himalayan Tower, and a couple of houses, and a pavilion, and… you get the idea: too much. So Ryusho told me that, to secure Asian status, I had to win the approval of the Academy for the Appreciation and Preservation of the Purity of Asian Architecture (AAPPAA for short).

I got some advice from the master, and tried a second attempt. Though it was somewhat “better” than the first one, I still wasn’t convinced it was worth keeping. So I did a little research on –mostly– Japanese, Chinese and Korean gardening and architecture, went back to the plot and moved around a few things, deleted some others, set out the greenies, and voilà: got the AAPPAA’s seal of approval, woot!

Credits after the break, but before that I have to thank Mr. Ryusho Ort for his advices and inspection during the building process. All the architectural elements you see in these pictures are from some of  his industrious creations, which you can get from his store in the now functioning Marketplace. I modded them for this project, as I usually do, so if you don’t see the exact building in the store, you could either ask me what packs are these based on, contact Mr. Ort, or buy at will. The water lily arrangement in the picture above is from Tiki Tattoo [slurl], while the sword reed is from Heart’s Garden Center [slurl], and the Japanese lantern from Edo Daikoku [slurl].

The cherry blossom in the foreground is from mosq lab [slurl], shrubs from KTG [slurl], flagstones from Hydro Homes [slurl], shrine from Edo Daikoku, bamboo chime from Aja [slurl], and the rest of the garden items from Organica Specialty Trees [slurl].

Bamboo from KTG too, rocks from Forest Floor [slurl], nodate-gasa (the red umbrella) from [GB] [slurl], wood bench from Old World [slurl], another bamboo chime from Aura Wind Chimes [slurl], and the blue azisai  (hortensia) from Forest Feast [slurl]. From left to right, the bonsai are from KTG (you can win one from a lucky chair if you visit the store), Organica (not originally a bonsai, but a fully grown bristlecone pine), Artic Greenhouse [slurl], and Organica again (the last two).

Water lily leaves from alirium Gardens [slurl], water lily flowers from New Trails [slurl], willow from 19Motorcycle [slurl], and cherry blossom from Forest Floor again.

Rocks and ferns from Organica, another bamboo from Sono [slurl], blue maidens from Heart, and some more shrubs from Garden of Dreams [slurl].

Quite a picture intensive post, isn’t it? Thank me I didn’t post the 46 of them, lol.

This is a view from above of Nowhere. The parcel also has some nice environmental sounds from Acoustic Alchemy [slurl], as well as a blue heron and a white crane from Animania [slurl]. Not seen in any of the pictures, there is also some grass from Shade Fantasy Outfitters [slurl].

Thanks for staying till the end of the long post.  🙂