UNDERSTORY

Commissioned by Microsoft  Sculpture Location: Center of the main campus on a small rise, Redmond, WA: 47°38'21.9"N 122°07'40.7"W

The sculpture will be publicly accessible beginning in July 2024

Wood salvaged from the Microsoft campus coated with charcoal made from scraps of the same wood, 20 feet high by 36 feet by 18 feet on concrete plinths.

Understory explores a relationship between a tree canopy network of trunks and limbs and an exposed network below of an interconnected root system. By elevating an open root network above viewer’s heads, the sculpture provides vantages through the lower root system upward to the canopy, offering vantages to compare and relate the two networks. Lighter areas of the sculpted root forms highlight grafting between different trees. We sculptured the trunks of the trees with hollow interiors to offer unique vantages inside the forms.

Making way for new construction, a small grove of oak trees needed to be removed from the east side of the campus. Prior to taking the trees out, we digitally scanned the trunks and limbs using Lidar. We then excavated all the soil from the roots of these trees exposing how the roots from different trees graft to one another, including connections between the oaks in this grove and surrounding doug fir trees. We then made a digital scan of all the roots.

To make the sculpture, we merged digital models of the roots, trunks, and canopy and adjusted the ground plane for a new location elevated on plinths at the center of campus. We cut and milled the oak trees from the grove as well as the surrounding doug firs and kiln dried them. We then used this wood to create a new version of the trees. We did this by bonding thin layers of the wood together, orienting the grain to support the structures. We then carved all the surfaces with hand tools.

Images and video of the finished sculpture coming soon.