Just 3 weeks to go until the show opens for press day and 2 weeks before we start working on site. Here’s a short video showing our glorious begonias in all their beauty. Begonias looking good for Chelsea in 3 weeks time
As with all good military exercises this is proceeding like a well oiled machine. Flyers are ready, badges ordered, chairs selected, stand manning arranged and tickets sent out. Look out for our eshot next week 6th May giving details of a great competition to win a pair of tickets to see the show or visit our website Competition details
Gradually the huge to do list is reducing with more of the emphasis now being on the practical side of building the stand rather than the theoretical design and organisational side.
Our press pack designed to entice the world’s media to make a beeline to our stand ..
GREEN ARCHITECTURE:‘The Secret Pleasure Garden’
2014 Concept design
Enterprise Plants and Artillery Architecture and Interior Design are asking the question;
‘How can architecture and horticulture work together to improve our living and working environments?’
The concept of a ‘Pleasure Garden’ dates back to the middle ages. All gardens express the personality of those who create them and in turn contribute to the long history of garden culture. Gardens stimulate sensations, whether dramatic, sensory or experiential.
Time travel through garden history shows how gardens are boldly, creatively and culturally envisioned and cultivated. The gardens bring great joy, relaxation and delight to the senses and shared collective experiences.
With garden sensations and experiences in mind, and with the trend to integrate nature into buildings and development strategies, the intention of ‘The Secret Pleasure Garden’ is to surprise and delight visitors while opening a debate and discussion about the possibilities of ‘Green Architecture’. The garden utilises a unique green wall system creating two L shaped modular components that are aligned to create a hidden or secret space between the two walls.
The flora is reflected and distributed through the parallel mirrors in the centre of the structure to create playful, distorted views and images. This mirrored idea developed from the concept of “making strange” – an idea of de-familiarisation, or estrangement, that originated in Tolstoy’s literary theory but has since migrated to art and architecture. Key to this concept is the notion that deformation of the familiar has the power to jolt one into a state of heightened awareness. The vistas, reflections and images are intended to engage. Making the ordinary, extraordinary.
‘The Secret Pleasure Garden’ contains four varieties of Begonia rex: Begonia Etna, Begonia Fedor, Begonia Rumba, Begonia Salsa. The varieties have been specially selected to grow in green walls in conjunction with Begonia specialist Hoefnagels and wall manufacturer Cultilene. Planted to highlight dark and light and contrast inside and out, ‘The Secret Pleasure Garden’ is designed to change perspectives and make us think about the way we see our environment.
Green Walls have become an integral part of city landscapes and are increasingly appearing as valuable additions to interior spaces. The benefits interior planting offers building users has been widely documented. Research indicates that green walls can help to detoxify a building’s interior. The mass of vegetation in a wall absorbs much of the toxicity released into interiors from building materials, paints and finishes, and machinery chemicals. Plants oxygenate the air and hundreds of plants working in a green wall have a marked positive effect on the internal environment.
We all appreciate the joys of nature, whether on a window sill or in parks and gardens. People directly benefit from access to nature; it affects our senses and our well-being. The instinct to nurture plants lies at the root of the hypothesis of Biophilia, a theory put forward by Edward O Wilson, the American biologist. His theory widely spans the natural world and he explains it as “the urge to affiliate”
Looking to the future Enterprise Plants and Artillery Architecture and Interior Design are aware that horticulture needs to become an integral part of space planning and building structures to ensure both better working environments and greener cities.
Chelsea Mastermind Tony Muldoon
Chelsea here we come 