From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Garden of Ideas
The Garden of Ideas
food, designed to stimulate all the senses, delivered as a
performance on the ride.
Whirl through a John Waters ride reflecting All the
Horrors of Every Day Living. Flow through an installation
by Pipilotti Rist exploring our Future Nature and How we
Love, or lie down and seep through a multimedia experi-
ence by Tony Oursler and see what it feels like to inhabit
All the People’s Skin in the World.
Sleep at The Garden of Ideas’ two hotels: a four-star
hotel, overlooking the gardens with 350 bedrooms hud-
Garden of Ideas concept image dled like birds’ nests to the main building’s walls; and
joining the Bio-Domes is a stunning 700-bed children’s
The Garden of Ideas is a contemporary pleasure gar- hotel with 20 spacious dormitories of 35 beds each,
den, housing arts and entertainment experiences that arranged in ‘trees’ of ‘sleeping-pods’, designed as a safe,
will constantly change and evolve, responding to each informed base from which groups of young people can
season and year like cultural flora and fauna. explore London.
Ahh… is proposing this Urban Eden as a self-sustain- The Garden of Ideas will bring sustained employment
ing Olympic Legacy project for the Queen Elizabeth and training opportunities to East London. Providing a
Olympic Park after the 2012 Games. place where people from all parts of society can engage,
It will be home to a vast range of leading-edge enter- create and benefit from the best in art and entertain-
tainment experiences that will attract the widest possi- ment. Lorraine Faissal (who set up the Roundhouse’s
ble audiences and will keep them coming back. community programme) will lead this part of the project,
working with local communities and businesses to en-
sure The Garden of Ideas is a place where fun and intelli-
gence meet.
Garden of Ideas concept image
History
The Garden of Ideas is Simon Elliott’s brainchild. Elliott is
World-class visual and installation artists, film mak- the director of Ahh...Arts Igniting Minds, a company which
ers, engineers, digital technicians and ride manufactur- collaborates with artists, designers, architects, engineers,
ers will use the most up-to-date technology to create en- performers, communities and organisations to create,
tertainment and art, from the most intimate and person- develop and produce content through innovative pro-
al encounters to awe-inspiring displays. jects.
Play in the all-weather Bio-Domes designed by Jerry In April 2008, he was interviewed by Leisure Manage-
Tate (architect of the CORE educational facilities at the ment Magazine about the origins of his idea:
Eden Project) and get yourself wet in the naturally-heat- "I thought there was a gap in the market, and that there
ed temperate-climate water-sculptures. had to be a way of engaging broader audiences with
more interesting content"[1]
The Garden of Ideas concept grew from a series of youth
scoping projects, including Architecture of the Emotions
with Open City (Formally Open House London), which re-
vealed that emotional responses to a locality were similar
Garden of Ideas concept image across social groups.
Feeling peckish? Enjoy a feast on the Slow Food Mov-
ing Restaurant, where tables and chairs snake up through
the ‘hanging gardens’ atrium, into rooms created by
food-artists. Discover innovative, fresh, locally produced
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Garden of Ideas
• Pipilotti Rist creates images and sculptures that test
our notions about humanity. She draws our
attention to nature and forces us to question our
relation to it. She will explore the possibility of
creating a place in The Garden of Ideas that brings
people together in an unusual way. She said:
"The Garden of Ideas project is full of love. It’s like
a dream coming through. I believe in the necessity
The Vauxhall Gardens also inspired Simon Elliott. This to do a high level pleasure park for everybody. All
pleasure garden, which ran for two hundred years, was generations, all classes, all cultural groups are
"a place where a citizen could, with all decorum, take his wife symbolized in The Garden of Ideas as an utopian
and young servants or children, and enjoy an evening out with melting pot art park, where we dance, experience,
food, drink and informal entertainment in the setting of a large think, learn and eat together."
garden"[2].
Ushida Findlay Architects participated in the early • Tony Oursler has been asked to create a ride
development for The Garden of Ideas after exploratory ‘through all the people in the world’s skin’. The
meetings with Frank Gehry. audience will be invited to lay own on slow moving
In 2007, The Garden of Ideas was presented at the conveyor belts to pass through the large scale
Hayward Gallery as one of the Three big ideas for London. artwork as relaxed and comfortable as possible. He
The audience unanimously voted a full endorsement of said:
this proposal for an Olympic Arts and Cultural centre- "It’s about time the dreams of a new generation
piece. are focused in a fun and public way, one atop the
other, in The Garden of Ideas."
Artists
Technology
The Garden of Ideas’ developers are working in collabo-
ration with ride manufacturers Vekoma.
A new mechanical-equivalent of television or film
studios will be created to accommodate the creative’s vi-
sions, allowing some of the most up-to-date technology
to be employed. Some of the ‘rooms machinery’ will re-
main fixed, while the software and imaging can be
changed and reinterpreted. Other rooms will completely
change and be reinterpreted over time in response to
John Waters, Pipilotti Rist, Tony Oursler and many other popularity, vision, and demand.
world class artists have been invited to develop ‘rooms’
inside The Garden of Ideas.
• John Waters has been invited to create a horror ride,
Location
of All the horrors of everyday living. Waters is well London’s new Olympic Park is now under consideration.
known for his critiques of contemporary living and It is imagined to locate in any leading world city.
he has welcomed the possibility to create a large London’s Olympic Park will host a ‘square mile for so-
scale artwork in the form of an ‘end of pier’ ride. cial enterprise’ akin to the City of London’s ‘square mile’.
This is a traditional Dark- Ride with a twist. He said: As a social enterprise,The Garden of Ideas will pro-
"Finally, an amusement park whose focus is edge vide ‘sustained legacy content’ for the Olympic Park –
and humor rather than theme park dreariness and public profile, transport connections, retail, food and
market-tested blandness. ‘The Garden of Ideas’ other services will enjoy continued use by The Garden of
could be the Coney Island of my dreams; scary Ideas’s visitors during the day and animating the park at
because it will be so close to the horrors of the real night.
world but thrilling in it’s commercial appeal to
everybody without “dumbing down” the social Working with communities
satire. Hopefully, the joyous rebel in every curious
spectator will be excited just like I am by the whole Local and international communities will participate in
idea. What can I say, I’m a true carney at heart." the creation of this work, some of which will be ‘artist
led’, and some ‘audience generated’. The Garden of Ideas
will provide opportunities for communities to access cre-
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Garden of Ideas
atives, technology, hands on knowledge, innovation, ex- "The Garden of Ideas is an intriguing new vision for the
perience, and engagement with the leading and most dy- arts in London, promising to engage audiences with art
namic creative arts. They will participate in the organisa- in new ways. The Live Art Development Agency supports
tion, management of the space and learning opportuni- the work of Simon Elliott in developing this new and
ties of The Garden of Ideas. potentially unique creative environment in London".
Endorsements See also
• • Ahh...Arts Igniting Minds’s website
"Ahh...Arts Igniting Minds is a social enterprise that has • Kathryn Findlay, architect in charge of the early
a vision: bringing the visual and performing arts to designs for The Hill
groups and neighbourhoods that have been no-go areas. • "Architecture of the Emotions" video
The Garden of Ideas will be an architectural, artistic and • An article about The Hill, published in March 2008 in
social landmark in London, providig a space that will The Observer
inspire people and enable them to work together • An article about The Hill, published in April 2008 in
creatively and successfully." Leisure Management Magazine
• • Three Big Ideas for London Photos
• London 2012 Olympic Legacy
"This is an important ’must have’ Installation Gallery for • Wikipedia article on what are social enterprises
the future of London and our children, to ensure London • Simon Elliott shortlisted to create an artwork for
remains at the centre of installations arts that it engages London 2012
broad audiences with high end content in an exciting • Ahh...Arts Igniting Minds collaborated with
new way. I fully support The Garden of Ideas". Shakespeare Globe Theatre
• • Shakespeare Globe Theatre
"The Garden of Ideas is an innovative project and I wish
it huge success". References
• [1] See: An article about The Garden of Ideas,
published in April 2008 in Leisure Management
"The Garden of Ideas is an extraordinary and exciting
Magazine
project that challenges our expectations ; a unique
[2] From http://www.vauxhallgardens.com/
opportunity for art to be experienced and enjoyed by
vauxhall_gardens_briefhistory_page.html
anyone in an entirely new way".
•
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Ideas"
Categories: 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 in England, Summer Olympics in London, Culture in London
This page was last modified on 31 May 2011 at 19:36. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile view
3