the plaza tree
royal botanic gardens, kew

The Plaza area beneath the Treetop Walkway is formed by the bends of the Rhizotron passage which runs behind and beneath it.

The creative challenge here was to create a destination, a reason to enter the space which is enclosed on three sides.

We continued the 'tree as service provider' concept from the root sculpture inside the Rhizotron to a tree sculpture on the exterior wall, but here the aesthetic changes, the mechanical tree form is reminiscent of electricity pylons or mobile telephone masts, a strange irony to create a tree that resembles these icons of modern infrastructure, when mobile masts are being designed to resemble trees.

The Plaza Tree also features audio and animated elements, to create the audio montage we posed a few simple questions and recorded the replies, 'What can I do with a tree?', 'What does a tree do for me?'.

The video animations which are visible on miniature screens set into the sculpture, depict changing seasons and weather patterns.

The 48 leaves of the tree bear text relating facts and figures on tree biology, climate and environmental topics.