We were recently invited by Forest of Imagination, a contemporary arts event that re-invents spaces around city of Bath through activities, artworks, and sensory installations, to create a structure to house a Madagascan soundscape.
The Forest of Imagination is best described by Andrew Grant RDI: “Shining a light on the importance of global forests, and the capacity of Bath as a creative ecosystem”. This ‘pop up’ event took place from 3rd-6th June 2016 and saw Bath transformed over four sites: The living forest, the global forest, the creative forest and the eden forest.
Andrew continues: “This is a project about the creative ecology of the city, collaboration across generations and between industries. For the last two years we have transformed familiar, but typically neglected, pieces of the city landscape into an abstract ‘Forest’, brought to life by artists and scientists, carpenters, architects, landscape architects, school children, college students, parents, grandparents young and old.”
For the Madagascan structure we took our inspiration from the elaborate nests created by courting male Bowerbirds and inside it we placed an oak bench that curved round following the structure. As the structure was situated outside Bath Abbey we had quite a crowd watching us construct it, even in the pouring June rain. The Forest of Imagination was a huge success, attracting over 10,000 people who came together to celebrate creativity and nature.
Our experience in timber frame engineering and conservation allows us to take on unusual timber frame projects, from historic reconstructions of trebuchets and ballistas to conserving ancient monuments, we like challenges!
Update: The Forest of Imagination will be back in Bath for its fourth year – 29th June to 2nd July 2017. To find out more about the activities of the Forest of Imagination there is a wonderful blog on RSA. Have a read!
