Special Projects

Tree of Life

Milan, Italy

Light show at night 1 | Light show at night
A wooden sculpture, 35 meters high and with a diameter of up to 42 meters, lifting Michelangelos Piazza del Campidoglio design into the third dimension.
Design: Michelangelos design for the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome included a twelve-pointed star to be depicted in the paving. For the Italian Pavilion at the Expo 2015 in Milan, the star was reinterpreted as a „tree of life“, a twisting wooden sculpture. The tree symbolizes being rooted in the past, in this case the epoche-making Italian Renaissance, while growing into a vision of the future filled with innovation, culture, and the cooperation of cultures.

Wood: A daring construction of bent cross-laminated timber slats is twisted around a loadbearing steel tower. The timber construction, weighing around 90 tons, extends to a height of 35 meters and a diameter of up to 42 meters.
Construction time 2 | Construction time
Construction time 3 | Construction time
Water show at day 4 | Water show at day
36m
Basic information
Year of Completion |  2015
Investor |  Arexpo S.p.A., Milan (IT)
Architecture |  GAPprogetti – Alessandro Gasparini Ingegnere, Brescia (IT); Light show, staging: Gio Forma/ Marco Balich, Milan (IT)
Structural Engineering |  GAPprogetti – Alessandro Gasparini Ingegnere, Brescia (IT); Ing. Giovanni Spatti, Gratacasolo di Pisogne (IT)
Construction Time |  4 months
Plot size |  10 000 m²
Construction Costs (netto) |  3 mio. €

Technical aspects
Concept |  Cross-laminated timber slats twisted around a central steel pillar
Woodworking |  Consorzio Orgoglio Brescia, Brescia (IT)





Overall Design Overall Design