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Prince Charles To Islamically Makeover Garden
LONDON, May 14 (IslamOnline) - Prince Charles, continuing an ever-increasing interest in Islamic art and history, has ordered a "Muslim makeover" at the Gloucestershire garden in his Highgrove home.
The Prince of Wales' aesthetic plans for the garden will be unveiled at the Chelsea Flower show later in May.
Charles', who has meticulously monitored every stage of the design of his dream garden, visited the factory in Spain this weekend that is maufacturing the decorative tiles for the garden's central mosaic.
The Porcelanosa tile factory in Castellon, near Valencia, is making tiles of all sizes and shapes, including miniature ones for the garden. The tiles in the fountain area alone will use 56 different shapes.
The "Islamic garden" described by John Brookes, a prominent garden designer, as "enclosure, water, sanctuary and shade," is sure to be replicated by other gardening enthusiasts around Britain.
Diarmid Gavin, presenter of BBC2's Home Front In The Garden, told the Sunday Times, "It won't be long before people buy DIY Islam, with a ready-made arrow pointing to Mecca."
Khaled Assam, an advisor to the Prince, wants visitors to the garden to feel as if they are walking into a three-dimensional version of a carpet.
But he quickly denies that this interest is an overt endorsement by Charles of the Islamic faith.
"It is more a symbolic and universal representation of paradise," he said. "Geometric shapes express the world of flowers, the movement of stars and the order of nature."
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