This Christmas, our iconic Exhibition Hall shines with how-did-they-do-that magic you have to see to believe. There, in the center of our Fern Floor stands a 33-foot-tall translucent tree. Its base rests just above the water of the flooded floor. Its top soars taller than the Exhibition Hall’s beloved bougainvillea—an original planting from the 1920s—trained along the pillars and walls. Its frame comprises 12 miles—yes, 12 miles!—of white elastic cord, grouped together into 168 bundles. Each of those 168 bundles is made up 10 cords, and among them are 30 variations, with no more than 8 bundles identical to one another. Along those 168 bundles of cord are more than 900 geometric shapes hand-tied by a team of staff and volunteers. The result? A staggering work of art with delicate, fine details that is not only as a nod to the translucency and beauty of the nearby new West Conservatory—but as an homage to the dexterity and dedication of those who designed and created it.
Taking it back to the beginning, our translucent tree was inspired by a similar 12-foot-tall tree created by Danish architecture, art, and design firm Studio Roso and exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2012. Founded in 2008 by designers Sophie Nielsen and Rolf Knudsen, Studio Roso’s main emphasis is on the interface of nature and craftsmanship, and the way in which the extraordinary can be made from everyday materials. Their Christmas tree design for the Victoria & Albert Museum was inspired by the intricate art of bobbin lace, which serves as part of the museum’s permanent exhibition. “With just four days to submit a proposal and two weeks to construct the tree, we faced the challenge of sourcing materials quickly,” shares Nielsen. “This led us to use simple, readily available items—elastic cord and bangles purchased in bulk from a local shop.” Using that elastic cord, Studio Roso formed the silhouette of a traditional Christmas tree. And with 1,500 individual strands, they crafted a series of geometric shapes.
A close view of Longwood’s tree shows the intricacy of its more than 900 geometric shapes. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Earlier this year, Longwood approached Nielsen and Knudson with the idea of creating a tree for A Longwood Christmas inspired by their Victoria & Albert Museum design. “I was thrilled with the opportunity to craft another Christmas tree,” shares Nielsen. “My excitement grew even more when I saw the stunning space where the tree would be displayed. Longwood Gardens is such a breathtaking and magical place, and the idea of creating a handmade tree for a garden felt both surreal and incredibly enticing.”
Given the scale of the Exhibition Hall, the Longwood tree needed to be nearly three times taller and proportionally wider than Studio Roso’s Victoria & Albert Museum tree—and to command the presence required by the space. “Conceptually, we aimed to design a tree that would capture the elegance and charm of a traditional, ornate Christmas tree. We wanted the geometric shapes formed by the strands of cord to evoke the crystalline beauty of snowflakes and icicles, and as such, kept the entire tree in white,” explains Nielsen.
Assembling the Longwood tree was a true team effort; one that required forethought, skill, patience, and attention to detail every step of the way. Longwood Associate Director of Finishes Andrew Strode led the project team, along with several Longwood staff: Senior Carpenter Bruce Vogel, Bonsai Grower Matt Turner, Horticultural Specialty Grower Tim Jennings, and Associate Director of Landscape Architecture and Program Design Erin Feeney. The tree could absolutely not have been possible without an incredible team of Longwood volunteers: Pat Bierl, Patricia Capriotti, Valerie Cesna, Karen Colistra, Andrea Comer, Bill Cushing, Lennie Farrall, Vallerie Hunt, Steve Ittel, Beth Lankenau, Diane Lieberman, Kathy Mowrer, Pamela Nelson, Pat Ollinger, Maria Pini, Kim Snyder, Linda Strickland, Mary Szewczyk, and Sally Waters. Together, they dedicated more than 250 hours on this project alone—and both the process and result are astonishing.
We used a staggering 12 miles of cord to create the 33-foot-tall tree of 168 bundles and more than 900 shapes … here, the cord awaits bundling and shaping. Photo by Carol Gross.
In order to create the linear and swooping patterns of shapes, each unique bundle was meticulously laid out on custom wood jigs, pre-measured and marked to allow for consistent and efficient assembly. The sculpture consists of 30 unique bundle designs arranged in 5 concentric layers. During assembly, the tension of each individual strand was carefully regulated, and weights were used to achieve a consistent pull and tension between bundles. Photo by Carol Gross.
Studio Roso’s Victoria & Albert Museum tree measured 12 feet tall, with each geometric shape tied and bundle formed in its exhibition space while right-side-up and using ladders to reach the top. To compare, the Exhibition Hall tree soars at 33 feet tall, and thus had to be assembled—bundle by bundle, shape by shape—on its side in one of Longwood’s barns, a short drive away from its eventual Exhibition Hall home. Using design specifications created by Studio Roso, we came up with our own assembly and fabrication process, and we accounted for the Exhibition Hall’s moisture and humidity level when assessing the tension needed for each of the tree’s elastic cords. “The assembly process was truly a team effort,” shares Strode. “Everyone rose to the occasion and was unwavering in their attention to detail, organization and patience throughout the project.”
“The Studio Roso tree was assembled in place vertically. With ours being done in a separate location from its eventual display and nearly triple the size meant we needed to develop a very different process,” shares Turner. “This process had to account for the influence of gravity on tensioning and the need for mobility of the components. The scope of the tree and the size of the team involved also meant taking extra steps to ensure a uniform fabrication process.”
Volunteers Sally Waters, Linda Strickland, Pam Nelson, and Steve Ittel, along with Associate Director of Finishes Andrew Strode and Bonsai Grower Matt Turner, combine individual cords into a bundle by creating a tie-off point at the floor end of the assembly jig. Working along two full jigs allowed our team to create two bundles at the same time. Photo by Carol Gross.
Associate Director of Finishes Andrew Strode and Volunteer Pam Nelson align the geometric shapes and position their tie-down points to within a fraction of an inch, to allow for proper positioning and orientation. Photo by Carol Gross.
Bonsai Grower Matt Turner prepares jigs on one of the jigs to prepare assembly of a new bundle. Photo by Carol Gross.
Our staff and volunteer assembly team started their work in September, following an extremely detailed and deliberate sequence when creating each bundle and each shape. “As we worked through the first few bundles and better understood how to maintain consistency, our ten-step assembly process quickly grew to 15, and then to over 20 steps,” shares Turner. They pulled cords from ten spools through the floor-end of the assembly jig and then through each of the rings that would be used to create the geometric shapes. They checked the cords for frays, inconsistencies, and discoloration and replaced individual cords as needed. They walked out slack to prevent waste. They created a loop for the floor-end of the bundle; added evenly-weighted tension to all strands; and tied off the bottom, top, and ring for each geometric shape. They created a loop for the top end of each bundle, and then as each bundle was complete, cut it and burned off excess cordage to prevent frays. Then, they hand-fed each bundle into a carefully labeled bags. Each bag was placed into 30 boxes to keep like bundles together for transport to the Exhibition Hall in November.
Our 168 bundles of elastic cord make their way to the Fern Floor for installation. Photo by Hank Davis.
Longwood Associate Director of Landscape Architecture and Program Design Erin Feeney assists in the installation of the tree. Photo by Carol Gross.
Lighting helps enhance the tree’s effect, using a single source of light overhead and a circular array of lights underneath. “The goal is to illuminate the decorative shapes on the linear lengths of the outline of the tree and highlight the outline of the decorative shapes, while casting distinct shadows onto the tree,” shares Nielsen. “These shadows create a rich, crystalline pattern on the surface below, further emphasizing the tree’s intricate design.” Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
Much like the final result, the process constructing the tree was truly a work of art—one that was collective, collaborative, and incredibly inspiring. Volunteer Lennie Farrall, who has volunteered as part of our aquatics team for 8 years and has been a part of many A Longwood Christmas projects along the way, reflects on the process. “This has been one of the most complex, time-intensive projects I’ve been a part of,” he shares. “From creating the shapes to pulling the cord just so to get the right amount of tension, there was a lot of attention to detail. Along the way, working with many different people, all with the same goal, was so enjoyable. Camaraderie was a big part of the process.”
“One of the interesting aspects is that we all worked on the many small individual pieces, not the overall tree,” shares Volunteer Steve Ittel, who served as part of the translucent tree team and has volunteered as part of our bonsai team for 18 years now—another post requiring great attention to detail. “We referenced a schematic drawing of the tree, but that was small black lines on white paper as opposed to this towering, shimmering, white lacy tree we worked toward. None of us knew what it was going to be like until all of the parts were installed together on the Fern Floor. Before, it truly existed only in our imaginations.”
Our translucent tree, on view now. Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
With this wonderful work of art now in our Exhibition Hall, enveloped by admiring trees and cascading poinsettias, we are incredibly grateful that it now exists outside of the imagination. And we are incredibly grateful for those who had the imagination and artistry to create it.
