A Glimpse of Paradise Garden Culture in the Islamic World

The Iranian desert. A high plateau, surrounded by mountain peaks. Dry and barren. Yet for thousands of years a sophisticated irrigation technology has defied the desert here and made it possible for world famous gardens to flourish. They are the example and the pattern for the garden culture of the Islamic World.

India: densely populated and colourful, poor and chaotic. Yet the gardens here bear witness to wealth and order. How was it possible in India to achieve a marriage between oriental magnificence and the rigour of Islamic garden culture? We set out on a voyage of discovery to the most spectacularly beautiful gardens blooming in the midst of hustle and bustle and hullabaloo of modern India.

Morocco: colourful markets, glittering souks and shaded gardens. It is said that the finest of these gardens today are the work of artists, romantics and plant collectors from Europe. We set out on a journey to Morocco to discover how they have brought their dream of the orient into garden form.

Andalusia was a part of the Islamic World for nearly eight hundred years. Gardens here are a reminder of this period through until today. How did this epoch shape garden art in southern Spain and what roles did handicrafts and architecture have in all of this? We set out on a voyage of discovery to the roots of European garden art, which are over a thousand years old and Islamic.

The population of the Middle East is growing and its cities expanding. Space for green urban areas is fiercely contested. Private luxury oases and public parks can only be achieved in a compromise with the climate. In these unfavourable conditions gardens are altogether rare and remarkable. We set out on a journey of discovery to find out how gardens have changed lives.