Gardens were an important element of Donald Judd’s conception of space. The same concerns that he used to develop indoor spaces, such as proportion, symmetry, scale, materials, and function, were also central to the creation of outdoor spaces such as a garden or a courtyard. Also important was recognition of the existing features of a space, particularly what should be maintained as integral and what could be altered to suit a new purpose.
In his 1989 essay “Horti conclusi” Judd described one of his earliest designs for a courtyard:
One of the first and the most open was a courtyard that I suggested to my sister when she couldn’t find a house that she liked in Lubbock, Texas, which has a great deal of vacant land, like all American cities. This was to simply build a wall around a city-block, or half of one, perhaps three meters high, of cement block as the cheapest material. Then as money was available structures could be built against the wall on a scheme or at random according to the functions necessary. The center would remain fairly large and empty, since the area was established by the city-block. Small areas between the new structures against the wall could be gardens and patios, which need protection, certainly in Lubbock. Or a second inner wall could be built and the necessary structures built between the two walls, further enclosing the gardens. Or, additional structures could be built toward the center against the second wall. All roofs would drain into the enclosed gardens. It’s important to have several kinds of enclosure, according to the climate, and not just inside and outside as is usual.1
As he wrote later in the same essay, “The courtyard is a complex and is extensible.” For Judd, gardens were to be considered within the context of the complex as a whole and it was “absolutely necessary” whether in the city or a rural area, for the complex to be enclosed.
Horti conclusi, or Hortis conclusus in Latin meaning enclosed garden, is often depicted in text and image as a private space that can function as an outdoor room. For Judd, enclosures could be simple, such as a fence as seen below in his drawing for a garden at his ranch house, Casa Perez. Elements of the garden design depicted in this drawing include in Judd’s words: “land terraced some”; “either stones or concrete carrying water”; “large garden or field fenced against animals inc. rabbits.”
At La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, Judd created multiple gardens within the city block which he enclosed by building a twelve-foot adobe wall. The Block contains six garden areas: three on the east side and three on the west side of the complex. On the east side are twelve cottonwood trees arranged around a central pool. In the image below, one can see the orientation of trees around a cruciform structure or perhaps two different articulations of a pool running from east to west or from north to south. As built, the concrete pool is oriented from north to south and has an in-ground slope to the north. Cottonwood trees are fast growing and are often found growing in West Texas along arroyos or creeks and can live over one hundred years.