Arbor: Tectonic Contingencies and Ecological Engagement

Arbor is a data spatialization of the urban forest of Palo Alto, California. The sculptural installation consists of 120 ribs arranged radially within King Plaza fronting Palo Alto City Hall. It uses the database of over 45,000 public trees in the city’s Open Data Portal (City of Palo Alto, n.d.) as the basis for a collective, three-dimensional map of one aspect of the city’s ecology. The installation performs like a compass, with each rib corresponding directionally to a respective “pie slice” of territory raiding outwards from City Hall. The trees are represented by bumps on the outer edge of each rib, so the zones with more trees result in ribs with more relief. The ribs are arranged in a circle, gradually changing in height, profile, and color to create a dynamic form that is different from each side