Last weekend i took a trip down to Plymouth with my girlfriend, and on the Saturday we took an adventure over to The Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall. The purpose of The Eden Project is:
‘To promote the understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants, people and resources leading to a sustainable future for all’
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The entire site is massive and dedicated to informing visitors about the environment and the importance of our relationship between us and nature. We arrived shortly after lunch and it took us until 6pm to look around the site. I’m pretty sure we could have taken longer and the information included within the site is probably about two days worth to take in completely. Many of the plant species within the biomes are labled and stories are presented with background information.
Within the new education centre (The Core) is a fantastic amount of information about various plant species, new forms of reneuable energy, people who do their best to influence the careful use of the environment and examples of people who haven’t done as much as they could. One of the best stories we read was about how a Chinese Prime Minister enforced a law where China’s population were to clap and ward off birds whenever they tried to land. The birds dropped out the skies with exhaustion and the insect population rose. Everything in nature is linked in a chain, a food chain.
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Also within The Core was a fantastic array of information about the design and construction process including the inspiration, materials chosen and all kinds of information and quotes straight from those members involved. Grimshaw were the architects for The Core project and some of their design process was shown in A3 pages. A video was also on display showing various processes within the manufacture and sourcing of materials.
The Core looks fantastic from the inside and out and the fibonacci spiral upon which it is based entangles it even more into the way of The Eden Project, through using the natural way plants grow. The roof was constructed using Glulam, (Glued Laminated Timber) which looks fantastic. The smell within the new building is also amazing from the fresh exposed wood.
I managed to take a whole load of pictures of the project, and take in quite a lot of information. I also came away with a bargain of a book for just under £10!!! If you’re in the neighbourhood, or even if you’re not then take a trip down and have a look around.
