London Fieldworks

These bird and bug boxes have been installed by art and architecture collective London Fieldworks around trees across London in clusters inspired by neighbouring housing.

Spontaneous city in the Tree of Heaven consists of two sculptures with one in Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea and Kensington, and the other in Duncan Terrace Gardens in Islington.

The sculpture above is in Duncan Terrace Gardens and inspired by the local Georgian terraces and 1960s apartments.

The other sculpture in Cremorne Gardens (above) is inspired by the Worlds End housing estate seen in the background.

The sculptures were commissioned by the local councils as part of public gallery Up Projects‘ on going Secret Garden Project, which places sculptures in lesser known green spaces across London.

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Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven,

By London Fieldworks

Duncan Terrace Gardens, Islington and Cremorne Gardens, Kensington & Chelsea

Spontaneous City by London Fieldworks comprises two sculptural installations specially designed for the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus Altissima) an unusual tree of Chinese origin which grows in Cremorne Gardens, Kensington and Chelsea, and Duncan Terrace Gardens, Islington. The two sister sculptures are made from a collection of over 250 bespoke, wooden bird and bug boxes that create a sculptural ‘habitat’ for the birds, insects and invertebrates that occupy the gardens, providing spaces for shelter, nesting or feeding. The design of the boxes in Duncan Terrace reflects the Georgian terraces and 1960s flats that surround the park, and in Cremorne Gardens, the structure is inspired by the architecture of the nearby Worlds End housing estate.

London Fieldworks are an art/architecture collaborative that create art installations for urban and rural settings that engage with ecology as a complex inter-working of social, natural, and technological worlds.

These sculptures have been commissioned for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Islington Council by up projects as part of their Secret Garden Project ; a new programme of artists’ commissions and events for secret gardens, lesser known green spaces, and urban corners across London. They will be in situ for three years.

The Secret Garden Project programme continues to grow, and each new commission is connected by written works, events and blogs by our writer in residence Sarah Butler. To find out more, or make a written contribution visit the Word Garden blog.