EDEN anniversary edition - Softcover

Smit, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905811276 ISBN 13: 9781905811274

Publisher: Eden Project Books, 2011

Synopsis

'With passion and commitment thousands of "small" people built Eden as a symbol of hope in action...We may all have feet of clay, but that shouldn't stop us trying to make a difference....We say, "Demand the impossible".' So said Tim Smit and thus was the impossible delivered: a living theatre of plants and people and their interdependence, housed in a disused china clay pit and featuring the world's largest greenhouses.
Since Eden opened in 2001, well over ten million visitors have made their way to Eden, drawn by the astonishing, visionary ambition of its founders, the everchanging horticulture and new developments on-site. More have discovered it as an extraordinary music venue, attending Eden's sessions. But Eden is far more than a visitor attraction. It has mutated into an organisation with projects and partnerships all over the world concerned with rehabilitation (physical and social), community education, biodiversity, sustainable construction, green employment and town planning.
Marking the 10th anniversary, this edition is the extraordinary, fully updated story of Eden complete with stunning new photographs.

About this title

Review

Tim Smit, author of Eden, is obsessed with horticulture (no mere "gardening" for him). In restoring the Lost Gardens of Heligan he has become an acolyte of a great, though rarely remembered, philosophy--one that ties our welfare as a species to our relationship with plants.

The Eden Project is, in his own statement: "a vast complex of soap bubble-shaped greenhouses (the largest in the world) which interpret and explain our dependence upon the plant kingdom." Eden the book is his definitive account of the project from its beginnings--an account handsomely and often wittily illustrated (a good gift book). More importantly, it is well written.

Smit is trenchant about his aims: "Why, for God’s sake, put yourself...through years of grief to build a crappy theme park so that some smartass can define it in a sentence?" he asks. By creating something more than a mere "product"--and by doing it in an old clay pit in Cornwall--Smit and his colleagues faced daunting challenges. Larger-than-life characters pepper the book which is more about people than plants.

Well over a million people have already visited the Eden Project. But this book is more than a celebration, more than a memento; it is too honest and exhaustive to be a mere statement of vision. It is, all in all, a rather unlikely bestseller--a contender for best business book of the year. --Simon Ings

Review

"'Smit's vision of Eden is the eighth wonder of the world'" (Independent)

"'Inspiring...An invaluable guide to how a large project can succeed against all odds'" (The Sunday Times)

"'Smit is a truly driven individual who does not give up until he has accomplished his visionary goals'" (The Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Eden Project Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1905811276
• ISBN 13: 9781905811274
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336