SURF THE SKY EAT THE VIEW

the Mobile Orchard

inhabitable urban fruit trees

the Mobile Orchard - by atmos

www.mobileorchard.info

project summary 2 (14.05.13)

The City of London Festival has commissioned atmos to design the centrepiece for their 2013 summer festival - an inhabitable and itinerant public sculpture to celebrate trees and commemorate the enduring British orchard. The Mobile Orchard re-imagines what urban fruit trees could be. It centres on a balletic duo of two intertwining trees; a fluid, organic, highly-inhabitable shelter and structure that prompts and frames a miniature stage for the city. Its wild and sprawling roots nestle a wide range of landscaped seating that provide spiralling access to nooks and niches deep within its twin trunks. The intrepid are tempted to climb upwards & straddle its high, ergonomic branches; to perch inside the very top of the trunk and admire the view out across the field of branches.
picking and eating

sitting and nestling

performing and watching

the Mobile Orchard - by atmos

www.mobileorchard.info

project summary 2 (14.05.13)

Each root flows seamlessly into the skywards-spiralling trunks and back out as branches above bifurcating and splaying into lightweight lasercut leaves and blossom, providing delicate layers of dappled summer shade. The branches nestle a constellation of over 500 fresh apples - food from heaven awaiting the plucking, encouraging visitors to explore and hunt for healthy sustenance. The undulating canopy creates ever-changing patterns of shadows and dappled light sheltering theatre, music and dance performances, shading and entrancing the audiences luxuriating beneath its boughs. The crenelated bark is further grooved with radiating seams of dynamic lighting - their luminous veins running the length of the tree to terminate in glowing LED bulbs above. The entire landscape will be a deeply-sculpted timber structure, spliced with thin curling layers of structural steel - parametrically designed and digitally fabricated using minimal material to give extraordinary rigidity and yet encourage wind-responsive lightness, mimicking the elegant structural prowess of nature itself. The central trees will be accompanied by a sprawling, choir of 100 young fruit trees, scattered across the local neighbourhood. Rest and picnic-spot, playground and place of wonder, the ensemble celebrates the glory and beauty of trees and nature - and our own human interactions.
view from above (no leaves)

prototype: contoured plywood

view from front showing areas for lounging , climbing and perching 3

the Mobile Orchard - by atmos

www.mobileorchard.info

project summary 2 (14.05.13)

Itinerary
The Mobile Orchard will travel to 5 venues over 5 weeks, opening on the Monday of each week and staying in place for 6 days. 21st June: Press Launch, Paternoster Square (1pm) 1: 24th-30th June: Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7DY 2: 1st-6th July: Devonshire Square, EC2M 4TH 3: 8th-14th July: St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), London EC3A 8EP 4: 15th-21st July: New Street Square, London EC4A 3BF 5: 22nd-26th July: Finsbury Avenue Square, London EC2M 2PG

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Project Team
Design: atmos Structural Engineering: Blue Engineering Lighting Design: Arup Lighting Lighting all sponsored by: LED Linear / Wibre / Architectural FX Microsite Web Design: Eightfold Client: City of London Festival Festival Tree Sponsor: Bloomberg Real orchard trees donated by: The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers

the Mobile Orchard - by atmos

www.mobileorchard.info

project summary 2 (14.05.13)

Map +

Itinerary