The Gardens By the Bay has been awarded the World Building of the Year prize at the World Architecture Festival. What could best be described as a compound with natural buildings, the project took a revolutionary approach in incorporating a tropical garden filled with tree-shaped towers, two shell-shaped climate-controlled greenhouse and a man-made waterfall. The 100-hectare development, comprising three landscaped gardens, was created in a collaboration by British architects Wilkinson Eyre and landscape architects Grant Associates.
The gardens features eighteen "supertree" structures that stand at 50 meters in height, with thousands of plant species growing throughout. The "supertrees" are connected by bridges 20 meters up and the tallest "supertree" even has a bar at the top! Each structure is unique; for example, one features flowers from the Mediterranean while another features a 30-meter-high waterfall. Gardens, a lake, tree-lined walkways, a playground and an events space round out this space.
This fantastical creation was a hard-fought prize for Wilkinson Eyre and Grant Associates; the teams won a competition in 2006 which awarded them the project. The garden opened to the public earlier this year. Truly these are some must-see natural buildings!
Source courtesy Dezeen. Photos and additional information courtesy The Gardens By The Bay website.
