Floating Tree
A new condominium in Long Island City, New York was built on a floating island. It boasts an unparalleled view of the Manhattan skyline and provocative design. But don’t get your hopes up: It’s for the birds. Literally.
“A Tree for Anable Basin,” created by Chico MacMurtrie of Amorphic Robot Works, a collective of artists and engineers, is an installation that MacMurtrie describes as – you guessed it – a “condominium for birds.”
The island’s centerpiece is a 22-foot aluminum tree, which serves as both art object and “mixed-income housing project” targeting the diverse needs of local species.
As the artist explained to me by phone, the grassy island base is perfect for grazing Canadian geese, while the tree’s branches provide roosting-sites for cormorants, a species that frequently flocks to metallic structures.
MacMurtrie has also carved ten small “suites” into the cedar wood strip of the tree’s trunk for wrens and swallows. Unlike most New Yorkers who complain about cramped – and barely affordable – living quarters, these birds seek a tight fit, as it prevents predators from coming to call.
But even if you’re no nature lover, it’s worth seeing what’s floating down the river these days: With its upward-reaching aluminum body, the tree echoes the gleaming towers across the river, as well as the materials from which they were made. “It gives you the quality of reflection that the New York City skyline has, but its organic form reminds you that trees were man’s first encompassing structures,” MacMurtrie said.
“A Tree for Anable Basin,” created by Chico MacMurtrie of Amorphic Robot Works, a collective of artists and engineers, is an installation that MacMurtrie describes as – you guessed it – a “condominium for birds.”
The island’s centerpiece is a 22-foot aluminum tree, which serves as both art object and “mixed-income housing project” targeting the diverse needs of local species.
As the artist explained to me by phone, the grassy island base is perfect for grazing Canadian geese, while the tree’s branches provide roosting-sites for cormorants, a species that frequently flocks to metallic structures.
MacMurtrie has also carved ten small “suites” into the cedar wood strip of the tree’s trunk for wrens and swallows. Unlike most New Yorkers who complain about cramped – and barely affordable – living quarters, these birds seek a tight fit, as it prevents predators from coming to call.
But even if you’re no nature lover, it’s worth seeing what’s floating down the river these days: With its upward-reaching aluminum body, the tree echoes the gleaming towers across the river, as well as the materials from which they were made. “It gives you the quality of reflection that the New York City skyline has, but its organic form reminds you that trees were man’s first encompassing structures,” MacMurtrie said.
Posted by: Audrey Tempelsman on Nov 1, 07 at 12:05 PM PDT
Anyone interested in floating islands might want to have a look at a book of mine, Floating Islands: A Global Bibliography, which includes several photographs of natural floating islands. See
http://www.cantorpress.com/floatingislands/
Posted by Chet Van Duzer on 11/02/07 09:41AM PDT
Anyone interested in floating islands might want to have a look at a book of mine, Floating Islands: A Global Bibliography, which includes several photographs of natural floating islands. See
http://www.cantorpress.com/floatingislands/
Posted by Chet Van Duzer on 11/02/07 09:41AM PDT
very cool!
Posted by Preston on 11/01/07 06:08PM PDT
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