Eden Project Garden

The famous bubble conservatories are visible on the satellite image on the map below. The Eden Project is a visual, entertaining and educational experience. Its aims are to connect us 'with each other and the living world, exploring how we can work towards a better future'. The buildings and the setting are spectacular but as it matures the most remarkable aspect of the project becomes less evident: it was built in a disused china clay quarry (very well shown on the video, below). The design is botanical , ecological and architectural. It was conceived by Tim Smit . The architectural bubbles were designed by Nicholas Grimshaw. The gardens were designed by landscape architects Land Use Consultants (led by Dominic Coles). The gardens opened to the public in 2001. The Tropical Biome Bubble houses both wild and cultivated plants (including banana, coffee, rubber and bamboo). The Mediterranean Biome Bubble houses warm temperate and arid plants, both wild and cultivated (olives, grape vines etc. The gardens outside the Bubbles have plants from temperate habitats. The design theory is modernist and the design result is postmodernist.