BUTTRESS TREES

Project

Haikou Duty Free Shopping City

Client

China Duty Free Group

Creative 

Wētā Workshop 

Build 

Dafeng Industry

Location 

Haikou, Hainan, China

Opened

October, 2022

Role on the project

Lead Design & Art Direction 

Two gigantic sculptural pillars stand on the North side of the atrium, with fluid branches that twist and graft into one another like the bittersweet vines found in forests of Hainan. At 13m high, stretching over two floors, these self-supporting sculptures are some of the largest aluminium casts in the world.

The two trees, one opalescent white and the other metallic gun metal, seem to mirror one another as their forms twist upwards and diverge into a futuristic vortex of canopy forms. Interactive light orbs nestle within the trunk and in the canopy, ready to activate with colourful light sequences as visitors approach and touch the inside of the trunk. One tree has grown organic flower like sacs, which has attracted the curiosity of two giant birds. These faceted, metallic electroplated birds hover over around the tree and activate with colourful light and sound upon encounter with visitors, their artificial chirping adding to the orchestra of forest sounds around the atrium. 

DESIGN PROCESS

The sculptural forms of the Buttress Trees reflect the idea of a forest born out of a machine. These fluid forms are precise, mechanical, and yet organic, like automata of nature. However, what appears to be generated by algorithms is in fact highly designed by hand through digital sculpting. The challenge was to maintain the feeling of geometrical perfection while being able to control every branch twist and direction by hand so that the desired tree shapes could be achieved.

The key to creating harmoniously fluid forms is to consider the sculpture as an interconnected system of muscles; each branch is in tension with one another. To build this system of muscles, 3d models are manipulated at various levels of detail. Primary forms of the tree were defined by a very low-polygon model. These become the ‘master’ gestures of the sculpture and inform the direction of every branch thereafter. Secondary forms bridge between the primary forms. Then, higher layers of subdivision allow tertiary details to be sculpted, edges defined, and branch transitions to be made seamless.

Algorithms were used to design the flower pods attached to the white Buttress, controlling the behaviour of the many small openings and their direction of growth.

The two trees are internally lit via a cluster of carefully positioned light orbs. This way, the lighting fixtures provide areas of even glow that highlights and compliments the natural forms of the sculpture.