Kat Austen, CultureLab editor (Image: Michael Leckie/Leeds University)Diverging from its stereotype of landscaped gardens and conservatories, this year's Chelsea Flower Show in London is going urban. Urban greening, that is. Occupying a corner of the show's famous Great Pavilion, the Environment section sports planters made from reclaimed wooden doors and recycled bottle acting as irrigation systems. "We want to encourage people to plant, wherever they are," says Eoin Redahan of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), keepers of the British gardening flame and organisers of the annual show. It has long been known that increasing foliage in our cities can help reduce the increase in temperature that results from urbanisation. Gardening in the city is becoming increasingly important, says Redahan, especially as 25 per cent of ... Continue reading →
Christine Ottery, contributor (Image: Geoff Caddick/PA/Science Museum)This is no time for hesitation. I'm conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra playing Gustav Holst’s The Planets in one of the interactive pods at the Science Museum’s Universe of Sound installation. All right, so I'm only going through the motions while hearing the music piped in, but it's true you have to be decisive with your movements as you follow the time signature pattern on the screen. The flowing and chopping movements of conducting with my right hand make this feel like Microsoft’s Kinect for musical karatekas. The pod display is showing me where to put my hands. Coloured lights flash as I hit the right spot on the right beat: two beats in a bar - during the Jupiter ... Continue reading →
