michel de broin's public sculptures emerge from the ground like giant tree trunks

michel de broin has created a pair of public sculptures in the city of montreal that recall the shape of massive tree trunks. placed in the city’s international civil aviation organization plaza (ICAO), the two monumental installations are fit with staircases and viewing platforms, inviting passers-by to inhabit the landscape and reconnect with their surroundings. 

all photos courtesy of michel de broin

michel de broin‘s ‘dendrites’ is named after the branched projections of a neuron that propagate cerebral stimulations, a term derived from the greek word ‘dendron’, meaning ‘tree’. made from corten and galvanized steel, the sculptures reproduce this microscopic phenomenon on a landscape scale. the montreal-based artist has completed the two sculptures with a series of alternative routes, encouraging climbers to explore and animate the work, ‘like the foliage of a tree.’