1000 Trees,
Shanghai, China

A design that began with the lit experience of a single ‘tree’, the undulating landscape of the two interlinked ‘mountains’ takes shape in a softly pixelated array of hundreds of glowing trees, planters and ripple textured columns, gently animated to create the sensation of clouds moving over a moonlit forest.
Client
Tian An China
Date
2013-Ongoing
Architect
Heatherwick Studio
Exec. Landscape Architect
Urbis
Exec. Lighting Designer
LEOX
Project Team
Keith Bradshaw, Clementine Fletcher-Smith, Ewan Parsons





“
The beauty of 1000 Trees is the way it works on a number of scales....we wanted the planters to act as individual pixels within the full external image.”

North Facade


Much like an actual mountain, the tree types appear in horizontally bands that reflect their altitude. It quickly became apparent that due to these banded shifts in leaf shape, size and texture, a combination of uplighting and cross lighting from other planters would be required to successfully reveal the forms. Achieving this while avoiding glare to the multiple terraces and viewpoints required a full three-dimensional focus plot for the entire site

Much like an actual mountain, the tree types appear in horizontally bands that reflect their altitude. It quickly became apparent that due to these banded shifts in leaf shape, size and texture, a combination of uplighting and cross lighting from other planters would be required to successfully reveal the forms. Achieving this while avoiding glare to the multiple terraces and viewpoints required a full three-dimensional focus plot for the entire site



South Facade

Unquestionably an iconic landmark after dark, it was also important that we support and encourage pedestrian use of the site surroundings. Lighting the artworks on the South façade creates a strong connection with the neighbouring M50 Art District

In complete contrast, the south facade cuts into the heart of the mountain revealing a matrix of glowing panels featuring urban art and brand advertising.