Citizendia

The Eden Project
The Eden Project
Inside the tropical Biome
Inside the tropical Biome

The Eden Project is a large-scale environmental complex in Cornwall, UK. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located It is an educational charity trying out new ideas and ways of thinking.

The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located 1. Kaolinite is a Clay mineral with the chemical composition Al 2 Si 2 O 5( OH)4 A clay pit is a Quarry or mine for the extraction of Clay, which is generally used for manufacturing Pottery, Bricks or Portland 25 miles (2 km) from the town of St Blazey and 3 miles (5 km) from the larger town of St Austell. St Blazey, or St Blaise, is a small town and Civil parish in the Restormel district of mid- Cornwall, in England, UK. St Austell (Sen Ostell is a town in Cornwall, England, UK. St Austell has a population of 22658 (according to the 2001 census [1]

The complex comprises a number of domes that house plant species from around the world, with each emulating a natural biome. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. A biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of Plants Animals and The domes are made out of hundreds of hexagons plus a few pentagons that interconnect the whole construction together; each of these is a transparent cushion made of tough plastic. The first dome emulates a tropical environment, the second a warm temperate, Mediterranean environment. The Tropics are centered on the Equator and limited in Latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23 A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the Climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide

The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by the architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates (now part of Sinclair Knight Merz), with Davis Langdon carrying out the project management, Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine[2] undertaking the construction and MERO to design and build the biomes. Tim Smit (born 1954) is a Netherlands -born British businessman famous for his work on the ' Lost Gardens of Heligan ' and the Eden Project Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE (born 9 October 1939 is a prominent English Architect, particularly noted for several Modernist buildings including London Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM is an engineering sciences and project delivery firm Davis Langdon LLP, known globally as Davis Langdon and Seah International is a construction consultancy firm headquartered in London, UK with 30 offices throughout Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd is a private British company headquartered in London. Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London The MERO spaceframe In the late 1930s a German entrepreneur Dr Ing The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001. Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.

Eden was built because all involved were inspired by the belief that we can all work together towards a better future.

Contents

Site

Layout

The project is constructed in a disused china clay pit. Kaolinite is a Clay mineral with the chemical composition Al 2 Si 2 O 5( OH)4 A clay pit is a Quarry or mine for the extraction of Clay, which is generally used for manufacturing Pottery, Bricks or Portland Once into the attraction, there is a meandering path with views of the two biomes, planted landscapes, including vegetable gardens, and sculptures that include a giant bee and towering robot called RSA WEEE Man created from old electrical appliances. Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements

Biomes

Panoramic view of the geodesic biome domes at the Eden Project
Panoramic view of the geodesic biome domes at the Eden Project
The hexangle structure looking from the inside
The hexangle structure looking from the inside

At the bottom of the pit are two covered biomes:

The biomes are constructed from a tubular steel space-frame (hex-tri-hex) with mostly hexagonal external cladding panels made from the thermoplastic ETFE. Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, colloquially known by its abbreviation ETFE, is a Fluorocarbon -based Polymer (a Fluoropolymer) a kind of At the outset, glass was proscribed due to its weight and potential dangers. The cladding panels themselves are created from several layers of thin UV-transparent ETFE film, which are sealed around their perimeter and inflated to create a large cushion. Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays An artificial membrane, also called a synthetic membrane, is a membrane prepared for separation tasks in Laboratory and industry The resulting cushion acts like a thermal blanket to the structure. The ETFE material is resistant to most stains, which simply wash off in the rain. If required, cleaning can be performed by abseilers. Abseiling (German abseilen, "to rope down" rappelling in American and British English is the controlled descent down a rope in Rock climbing Although the ETFE is susceptible to punctures, these can be easily fixed with ETFE tape. The structure is completely self-supporting, with no internal supports, and takes the form of a geodesic structure. A geodesic dome is an almost spherical shell structure based on a network of Great circles ( Geodesics lying approximately on the surface of a Sphere The panels vary in size up to 9 metres (29. 5 ft) across, with the largest at the top of the structure.

The ETFE technology was supplied and installed by Vector Foiltec who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the cladding. Vector Foiltec specialize in using ETFE as an Architectural Cladding technology The steel spaceframe and cladding package (with Vector Foiltec as ETFE subcontractor) was designed, supplied and installed by MERO (UK) PLC, who also jointly developed the overall scheme geometry with the architect, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners. The MERO spaceframe In the late 1930s a German entrepreneur Dr Ing Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE (born 9 October 1939 is a prominent English Architect, particularly noted for several Modernist buildings including London

The computer controlled environmental control system that regulates the heat and humidity within each biome is designed and installed by HortiMaX Ltd. who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the environmental control and monitoring systems.

The entire build project was managed by McAlpine Joint Venture.

The Core

The Core
The Core

The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September 2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly the building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeably in the form of the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape.

Grimshaw developed the geometry of the copper-clad roof in collaboration with a sculptor, Peter Randall-Page, and Mike Purvis of structural engineers SKM Anthony Hunts. Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM is an engineering sciences and project delivery firm It is derived from phyllotaxis, which is the mathematical basis for nearly all plant growth; the "opposing spirals" found in many plants such as the seeds in a sunflower's head, pine cones and pineapples. In Botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of the leaves on the stem of a Plant. The copper was obtained from traceable sources, and the Eden Project is working with Rio Tinto to explore the possibility of encouraging further traceable supply routes for metals, which would enable users to avoid metals mined unethically. Rio Tinto is a multinational Mining and resources group founded originally in 1873 The services and acoustic design was carried out by Buro Happold. Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing Engineering consultancy Design, planning project management and consulting services for all aspects of

Environmental aspects

Inside the tropical Biome
Inside the tropical Biome

The domes provide diverse growing conditions with many plants on display.

The Eden Project includes environmental education focusing on the interdependence of plants and people; plants are labelled with their medicinal uses. Environmental education ("EE" refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and particularly how human beings can manage their behavior and Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the The massive amounts of water required to create the humid conditions of the Tropical Biome, as well as to serve the toilet facilities, are all sanitized rain water that would otherwise collect at the bottom of the quarry. In fact the only mains water used is for hand washing and for cooking. The complex also uses Green Tariff Electricity — the energy comes from one of the many wind turbines in Cornwall, which were amongst the first in Europe. A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the Kinetic energy in Wind into Mechanical energy. Somewhat controversially one of the companies the Eden Project currently has a partnership with the British mining company Rio Tinto Group. Rio Tinto is a multinational Mining and resources group founded originally in 1873 Rio Tinto is set to commence mining in Madagascar for titanium dioxide. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring Oxide of Titanium, chemical formula Ti[[oxygen This will involve the removal of a large section of coastal forest, with the possibility of extensive damage to the unique biodiversity of the Madagascan flora and fauna. [3]

History

Driftwood sculpture of a horse, from the main entrance
Driftwood sculpture of a horse, from the main entrance

The first part of the Eden Project, the visitor centre, was opened to the public in May 2000, however the full site was opened on 17 March 2001.

The Eden Project hosted the "Africa Calling" concert of the Live 8 concert series on 2 July 2005. On July 2, 2005, a Live 8 concert was held at the Eden Project, Cornwall, England. Live 8 was a string of Benefit concerts that took place on 2 July, 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It was also used as a filming location for the 2002 James Bond film, Die Another Day. James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story Die Another Day is a 2002 film the 20th in the James Bond series, and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 It also provided some plants for the British Museum's Africa garden. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London.

In 2005 the Eden Project launched "A Time Of Gifts" for during the winter months, November to February. This features an ice rink covering the lake, with a small café/bar attached, as well as a Christmas market. Adding to atmosphere Cornish choirs regularly perform in the biomes.

In 2006 and 2007, the Eden Project hosted a series of musical performances, called the 'Eden Sessions'. Artists have included Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, Muse, Lily Allen, Snow Patrol and The Magic Numbers. James Morrison (born 13 August 1984) is an English Singer, Songwriter, and Guitarist born in Rugby. Muse are Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English Singer-songwriter and television presenter. Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish / Scottish Alternative rock band which formed in Dundee Scotland, The band achieved worldwide success due to The Magic Numbers are a four-piece Indie rock band from England comprising two pairs of brother and sister who previously went to The Cardinal Wiseman Roman Catholic

On December 6, 2007 the Eden project invited people all over Cornwall to attempt to break the world record for the biggest ever pub quiz as part of its campaign to bring £50 million of lottery funds to Cornwall. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A world record is the best performance in a certain discipline usually a Sports event A pub quiz is a Quiz held in a Public house. It is a largely British phenomenon which reached its peak in the early 1990s A lottery is a form of Gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize [4]

The Eden Project was also featured in the TV show Cybernet in 2002. Cybernet is the weekly voice-over-only television show on Video gaming and related subject matter originally commissioned by Yorkshire Television and is produced

In 2008, the Eden Project will hold a number of Eden Sessions concerts. This year's headliners for the summer gigs are: The Verve, Kaiser Chiefs and KT Tunstall. The Verve (originally Verve) are an English rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Kaiser Chiefs are an English Indie rock band who formed in 1997 Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975 is a Scottish Singer-songwriter. Eden will be holding its first comedy Session in 2008, with Bill Bailey taking to the stage. Mark Bailey where he was initially an academic pupil winning most of the prizes [5]

Criticism of Eden Project

In 2007 there was some criticism of the Eden Project in the Cornish press expressing concerns over the amount of funding the project received, £130m from various publicly funded sources,[6][7][8][9] saying the project should be more self supporting. Also the Eden's carbon footprint has been criticised for drawing over one million fossil-fuelled visitors a year to Cornwall mostly by car or plane and for staging rock concerts resulting in gridlock in the St Austell area. St Austell (Sen Ostell is a town in Cornwall, England, UK. St Austell has a population of 22658 (according to the 2001 census Concern has been expressed in local papers that the project has been orchestrated by a clique within the London establishment to secure funds for their project. [10] In December 2007 the Eden Project failed in its bid for £50m of funding following the Big Lottery Fund popular vote,[11] when it received just 12. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG is a grant-making Non-Departmental Public Body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer the funding 07% of the votes, the lowest for the four projects being considered. [12]

In literature

A woman, shaped from the soil
A woman, shaped from the soil

In the media

See also

"The Bee"
"The Bee"

References

  1. ^ Ordnance Survey (2005). The Amazon Standard Identification Number ( ASIN) is a unique identification number assigned by Amazon BIOS-3 was a closed ecosystem at the Institute of Biophysics in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, in what was then the Soviet Union. Biosphere 2 is a 314-acre (127 ha) structure originally built to be an artificial closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona ( USA Closed ecological systems (CES are Ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system The Montreal Biodome ( Biodôme de Montréal) is a facility located in Montreal that allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas The Biosphère ( of Environment Canada is a museum in Montreal dedicated to Water and the environment. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( A vivarium (Latin literally for "place of life" plural vivaria or vivariums) is an area usually enclosed for keeping and raising animals or The Lost Gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey in Cornwall, are one of the most popular Botanical gardens in the UK. This is a list of topics related to Cornwall, United Kingdom. Bio-Dome is a 1996 movie starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin and directed by Jason Bloom. Sir John Richard Walter Reginald Carew Pole 13th Baronet, OBE, DL, (born 2 December 1938) is the present holder of the Baronetcy granted OS Explorer Map 107 - Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel. ISBN 0-319-23708-3.
  2. ^ Eden Project - The story so far
  3. ^ Madagascar's unique forest under threat - The Guardian, UK, 2005-08-07
  4. ^ The Eden Project - Eden raises the bar for the Edge in the world’s biggest-ever pub quiz
  5. ^ Eden Sessions website
  6. ^ Eden Project. Millennium Commission. The Millennium Commission in the United Kingdom was set up to aid communities at the end of the 2nd millennium and the start of the 3rd millennium. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states
  7. ^ Case Study: The Eden Project. ERDF site for England. Communities and Local Government. The Department for Communities and Local Government (branded as Communities and Local Government) is the United Kingdom government department for communities Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states
  8. ^ The Queen to open the Eden Project's "Da Vinci Code Building". South West Regional Development Agency (1 June 2006). Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states
  9. ^ County Council Supports Future Development of Eden Project. Cornwall (25 January 2006). Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states
  10. ^ Criticism of Eden Project
  11. ^ "Routes scheme tops lottery vote", BBC News, 12 December 2007. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states  
  12. ^ The People's 50 Million - Sustrans' Connect2 wins £50 million prize. The Big Lottery Fund. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states

External links

Coordinates: 50°21′43″N 4°44′41″W / 50.36194, -4.74472

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.
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