Art

The Garden is proud of its eye-catching, prestigious artworks which reflect humankind's relationship with the natural environment.

Most striking is the Great Glasshouse, designed by Lord Foster and Associates. Despite being the largest single-span glasshouse in the world, it reflects the gentle contours and muted colours of the surrounding hills - its form blends perfectly with the undulating landscape.

Running down the Broadwalk from the charming Mirror Pool is a curving Rill. Its shape was inspired by the meadering path taken by the River Tywi, which flows just a kilometer north of the Garden.

Halfway down the Broadwalk, the Rill ends at the ammonite inspired Circle of Decision.

Further down the Broadwalk is Scaladaqua Tonda. Created by William Pye, the name of this water sculpture means 'curving water steps'. At the Gatehouse is 'Thirty Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight' by Marion Kalmus, a huge inverted cone of glassy sheets, where running water continually cascades down the inner side, illuminated by up-lighting. Its simple beauty presents a stark warning to us all - etched onto the glass is the number of plant species threatened by extinction in the year 2000. Both this sculpture and Scaladaqua Tonda were commissioned with funds kindly donated by The Derek Williams Trust.

Over on Paxton's View, 'Pi' by Rawleigh Clay is positioned in such a way as to create a viewing circle of Paxton's Tower. The name of the sculpture is a play on the mathematical symbol, which is the ratio the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The sculpture is in the form of a metal circle supported by a wooden structure. 'Pi' was been kindly donated to the Garden by the Contemporary Arts Society for Wales.

We also have many temporary art exhibitions in our Gardens Art Gallery. These cover a wide range of plant and environment related themes, in many different forms of art media.