A metal gazebo can center a contemporary gravel bed garden.  A garden like this is remarkably simple and easy to maintain.  It consists of slow growth grasses planted in clumps along a semi circle of irregular stepping stones.  A flowering bush and a sculpture fountain terminate the walkway, with the gazebo filling the remainder of the gravel bed within the radial arc of the stones.  This gives you a sense of the panoramic under control when you look down at the stones leading up to the decorative fountain.  Gravel is a natural drain, so choosing tough plants that thrive on minimal nutrients and grow over long periods of time ensures that the few organic elements of such a garden stay healthy year round.

A spherical metal gazebo can be constructed that is created by curved beams that converge at the roof.  The structure can be open or partly glassed in.  Such a building is very expensive due to its unique design.  Equally to its expense is its luxury, however.  You can build a platform around one side of the sphere and turn it into a lounge area, or even an outdoor bed. 

Placing such a futuristic design in the midst of a contemporary garden where ornamental glass, decorative mirrors, stainless steel posts, andcustom fountains run through gravel and hardscape could even qualify the form to be a type of contemporary art.  Like a decorative outdoor building, such a feature in one corner of the yard represents a silent invitation into the world of the unknown where perceptions are turned upside down—only in a literal and very relaxed way once you lie down on the cushioned platform inside.

Consider another very unique form of contemporary garden that features a grouping of potted plants beneath a metal gazebo with a glass roof.  This permits the majority of sunlight to penetrate the ceiling, but it provides a shield from the rain.  Arrangements of potted plants around the supporting beams create a very unique form of minimalist garden.  A gazebo like this looks best at the edge of a luxury swimming pool.  It serves as a wonderful endcap to the hardscape that compliments the architecture at the other end of the pool’s linear run. 

A metal gazebo can punctuate a hardscape at the end of a short walkway running from your backdoor to a gravel-filled area where you display your outdoor sculpture.  When you sit on the patio under the gazebo, you can view the gallery as a whole.  If you want to give visitors a tour of the gallery, simply take a journey down the flat, circular pads that let you walk over the gravel without stepping in it.

Each step along the way brings you into new relationship with each and every piece.  Then, when you turn back to look at your home, you see your metal gazebo and your house rising up like tiers of the same architecture.   This gives your house an aura of ascension that magnifies its importance as the central figure of your contemporary landscape design.  Conversely, when you open your back door and view your gallery through the partly open structure of your gazebo, the columns and rafter form a sort of portal into a special dimension of abstract forms.