Spring Place New York, the professional club located in Tribeca, has teamed up with Sila Sveta and Polina Zakh to update a holiday icon for NYC's creative class. Inspired by industrial design that Zakh had seen in Milan, the eight foot tall installation offers a minimalist interpretation of a traditional Christmas tree.
"I've been to this place many times and I remember how beautiful it is," Zakh says, gesturing to the crowd of strategists, directors, and designers mingling around Spring Place's black-tiled bar. "It has certain industrial design elements as part of its interior. I get a lot of inspiration from architecture; it is one of the things I absolutely adore. "
Featuring a latticed cage of wire mesh surrounding a plexi-glass pyramid with geometric designs etched into its surface, the installation feels like a cyberpunk vision of what the holidays could look like in the near future.
"We still wanted to keep the vibe of [a tree], but since I'm doing a lot with art and technology, it's not regular," says Zakh, whose previous work includes designing visuals for Cardi B, Offset, and Drake. "When we saw renders, some of my friends were like, 'Oh, happy 2036.'"
"When we saw renders, some of my friends were like, 'Oh, happy 2036.'"
A LED light hangs overhead in the room, enveloping the installation in a colorful bath of light. According to Silva Sveta and Zakh, they wanted the sculpture to help build community at Spring Place by encouraging employees and guests to leave their offices.
"We have the obligation to bring these people up from the co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and private offices to the sixth floor where we create those connections, and put them in touch with each other," says Spring Place CEO Olivier Lordonnois. "That's what the holiday tree does, creating a good excuse for them to leave their desks and come up here and talk to each other."
Cultivating a space where young professionals can come together to create, collaborate, and socialize is paramount to Spring Place's mission.
"When it's time to finish your emails and think about all the things that work, it's very important for us to create something that brings the whole community together," Lordonnois says. "It doesn't matter what the size of it is, the trimmings and all the ornaments that you put in them, it's about the intention and what you do with that small, tiny tree — where you place it, the heart that you put into it."
The installation will be on view at Spring Place through January 2nd, 2020. For more information, visit springplace.com.
Photos courtesy of Spring Place