Lone Pine(cone)
Lone Pine(cone) is an evolving, three phase installation that demonstrates how climate change exacerbates architecture’s impermanence and how the increasing impermanence of architecture can be addressed.
The installation began with a pine cone-inspired pavilion. I decided to design a pine cone-inspired structure upon discovering that the Climate Sculpture Biennale would be exhibited on the former golf course adjacent to Pine Park. The resulting pavilion, which rested between two overgrown sand traps atop a hill not far from the treeline, could be interpreted as a pine cone fallen from a towering pine in the vicinity.
The pavilion’s exposed hilltop location was partly the source of its downfall- the installation’s second phase. Winds rush over the hilltop as they pass through the rolling valley that was once the golf course. Like many natural phenomena, surface winds will increase in frequency and severity as the world warms. The winds that flattened the pine cone pavilion symbolize climate change’s threat to architecture.
I propose that the answer to addressing climate change’s increasing impact on architecture’s longevity is not to build beefier buildings intended to fend off the elements. Instead, architecture should respond to its environment, taking inspiration from nature and leveraging the resources at hand to ensure climate resilience.
These ideas inspired the third and final phase of the installation. Rather than building a more robust pavilion, a new pine cone-inspired sculpture was born from the remnants of the first. Unlike the vertically-oriented pavilion, the new sculpture matches the horizontal orientation of pinecones scattered around the site. Also, the pavilion’s location was abandoned in favor of a sunken sand trap that shields the new sculpture from the wind. In its final form, the sculpture serves as a reminder that working with the natural landscape is the key to creating enduring architecture in the face of climate change.
Materials: Wood, nails
Creation Year: 2024
Size: 60 in x 90 in x 60 in
Photography by Tian Yang