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Singapore is one of-the Four Asian Tigers or Asian Dragons, a term used in reference to the highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan after 1970. Gardens by the Bay is an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden". The stated aim is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.

Gardens by the Bay is a park spanning 101 hectares (250 acres) of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden.

The overall concept of Bay South Garden’s master plan draws inspiration from an orchid as it is representative of the tropics and of Singapore, being the country's national flower, the Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'. The orchid takes root at the waterfront (conservatories), while the leaves (landforms), shoots (paths, roads and linkways) and secondary roots (water, energy and communication lines) then form an integrated network with blooms (theme gardens and supertrees) at key intersections.

Supertrees are tree-like structures that dominate the Gardens' landscape with heights that range between 25 metres (82 ft) and 50 metres (160 ft).

Supertree GroveThese unique trees of up to 16 storeys in height can be found all around the Gardens - twelve at the Supertree Grove, while the remaining six are placed in clusters of threes at the Golden and Silver Gardens.

Providing scale and dimension to the Gardens while marrying the form and function of mature trees, the Supertrees also create height to balance the tall developments in the Marina Bay area.

Take a stroll along the OCBC Skyway, a 128-metre long walkway with a height of 22-metres that connects two Supertrees at the Supertree Grove, and take in a different view of the Gardens.

Super-trees are made of four parts: reinforce-ment concrete core, trunk, planting panels of the living skin, and canopy.

11 Supertrees are embedded with environmentally sustainable functions like photovoltaic cells to harvest solar energy.

Over 162,900 plants comprising more than 200 species and varieties of bromeliads, orchids, ferns and tropical flowering climbers are planted on the Supertrees

When night falls, watch as the Supertrees come alive with a dazzling myriad of light displays bursting across the sky.

Supertrees are are vertical gardens that perform a multitude of functions, which include planting, shading and working as environmental engines for the gardens.

Dragonflies bridge

The Heritage Gardens is a collection of four themed gardens that will take you through the history and culture of Singapore’s three main ethnic groups and colonial past.

As you walk through each garden, discover the stories of the contribution from different ethnic groups towards Singapore’s formation. The Kampong House is specially designed by the Malays using materials solely derived from nature

Marc Quinn’s, Planet, a giant sculpture of a sleeping baby suspended in mid-air installed at the Gardens by the Bay

Planet, created in 2008, is made of painted bronze and steel, 10-metres long and weighing 7-tons, and appears to float weightlessly above the ground. It depicts the artist’s son at 7-months old, and is one of three sculptures that drew inspiration from the early development of his infant son

“To me, Planet is a paradox – hugely heavy, yet the bronze appears weightless; overwhelmingly big, yet also an image of vulnerability. It is both a reflection of ourselves and the earth upon which we live,” Marc Quinn.

The conservatory complex at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, comprises two cooled conservatories – the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest, situated along the edge of Marina Reservoir.

The conservatories, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, are intended to be an energy efficient showcase of sustainable building technologies and to provide an all-weather edutainment space within the Gardens. Both are very large (around 1 hectare (2.5 acres)

The Flower Dome is the lower but larger of the two, at 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). It replicates a mild, dry climate and features plants found in the Mediterranean and other semi-arid tropical regions (e.g. parts of Australia, South America, South Africa).

The Flower Dome is the worlds largest columnless glasshouse.

The Flower Dome is 38 metres (125 ft) high and maintains a temperature between 23°C and 25°C, slightly lower at night.The Flower Dome features 7 different "gardens" as well as an olive grove with a bistro and a central changing display field has also been incorporated to enable flower shows and displays to be held within the conservatoryThe South African garden contains plants from a wide range of zones in South Africa including Protea, the national flower of South Africa and Strelitzia

The main avenue in the Flower Dome

The succulent garden and The Baobabs are found in the elevated section

The Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments.

The world’s largest columnless greenhouse, the Conservatories’ glass sits on a steel grid that acts like an eggshell.

Plants in The succulent

garden and The Baobabs section are mainly from the most arid

warm temperate zones i USA, Mexico, Africa and of course

from Madagascar.

The Cloud Forest is higher but slightly smaller at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres). It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level, found in South-East Asia, Middle- and South America. It features a 42-metre (138 ft) "Cloud Mountain", accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall provides visitors with refreshing cool air.

The Cavern and the Crystal Mountain contains exhibitions of mineralogy and caves, The Secret garden contains plants from ravines and tree ferns from New Zealand and The lost world contains pitcher plants, fly-traps, orchids, ferns and club-mosses as well as a single Keteleeria.

The "cloud mountain" itself is an intricate structure completely clad in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums. It consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme.The cloud walk is an aerial walkway around the top of the mountain giving both a closer view of the epiphyts growing on the outside of the mountain, and a view from above on the entry level below.

Text and pictures: InternetCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Teresa Teng - The Way We Were