An enclosed capsule over 440 ft in the air is not the first place you would think of when envisaging an English garden. But last week, Andy Sturgeon of Chelsea Flower Show fame transformed one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, the London Eye.
“Whilst I am always trying to take garden design to new heights, this opportunity has meant that I can do it quite literally!” Andy said. “It is great to create the highest garden London has ever seen, at one of the capital’s iconic landmarks.”
The stunt was part of Cityscapes, a new garden festival taking place around London between now and September 2012. The team worked through the night so that Londoners and tourists walking past the Eye that morning caught the first glimpses of the rather unusual sight.
Organised in partnership with the South Bank and Bankside Cultural Quarter, its aim is to bring a creative new approach to the way urban parks and gardens are designed. After the London Eye, Citiscapes will be putting on similar installations in The Old Vic Tunnels, the Architecture Foundation and the Design Museum, all in south London. At each one, leading designers will transform the spaces in collaboration with artists, architects and musicians.
As well as this, the slightly more conservative Jubilee Gardens that will run along the Thames path are very nearly ready; and Cornwall’s bio haven The Eden Project is working with homeless people on a roof garden on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
For more details about what the Cityscapes project has planned next go to www.cityscapes.org.uk
