- The Tree of Life will be on display at the Universal Exposition 2015 in Milan, May 1 to October 31. The interactive installation is a linear tree-like structure of wood and steel that climbs 37 meters high. The LED lighting, projections and special effects illuminating the Tree of Life come from d3 Technologies’ d3 software suite and 4x2pro media server.
The Tree of Life in full effect at Universal Exposition.
The Universal Exposition has the dual themes of feeding the planet and energy for life. It explores how technology, innovations, culture, traditions and creativity relate to food and diet worldwide. The Tree of Life was created by a consortium of Italian businesses and serves as the centerpiece for the activities of the Italian Pavilion. It is located in Lake Arena, a 90-meter wide pond with a seating area for 3,000 people and concentric circles of trees. The Tree of Life comes alive with daytime shows with music by contemporary Italian composers and evening shows scored for the Expo.
Marco Balich, designer of the Tree of Life, was inspired by drawings by Michelangelo and serves as artistic director of the project. Koert Vermeulen, principal designer with ACT Lighting Design in Brussels, is the installation’s visual designer and director.
“You can visualize what you’re going to get in a reasonable quality,” he says. “When you need to build things and develop a workflow and methodology, d3 visualization really helps you decide things long before you have to actually implement it.”
Jo Pauly of Visual Solutions, in Hoellaart, Belgium, spearheaded the d3 previs. They programmed, calibrated the projectors and ran the first Tree of Life show with d3’s 4x2pro.
