Arbor

2021
Palo Alto, California
Commissioned by Palo Alto Public Art Program

Arbor is a data spatialization of the urban forest of Palo Alto. The sculptural installation consists of 120 ribs arranged radially within King Plaza at Palo Alto City Hall. It uses the database of over 45,000 public trees in the city’s Open Data Portal as the basis for a collective, three-dimensional map of one aspect of the city’s ecology: all trees in the public realm. The installation performs like a compass, with each rib corresponding to a different “pie slice” of territory radiating outwards from City Hall. The trees are represented by bumps on the outer edge of each rib, so the zones with more trees result in ribs with more relief. The custom laser-cut ribs are arranged in a circle, gradually changing in height, profile, and color to create a dynamic form that is different from each side.

Arbor looks to historical examples of optical devices that operate radially, such as the zoetrope and the cyclorama, both of which use radial geometry to create dynamic spatial conditions. Individually, each rib represents the density of trees in its corresponding zone of the city. Collectively, the ribs coalesce into a singular yet dynamic form that becomes a spatial relief map of the city’s shared network of trees.

Arbor was on view in Palo Alto’s King Plaza March 2021 through March 2022. 

Project Credits:
Design: Adam Marcus, Pete Pham
Steel Fabrication: Seaport Stainless
Powder Coating: Richmond Metal Painting
Structural Consultant: Taylor Brady / Hohbach-Lewin
Assembly Team: Adam Marcus, Pete Pham, Nadya Chuprina, Joe Saxe, David Bentley