Like many industrial-era urban districts, Le Flon, in Lausanne, Switzerland, is experiencing a rebirth. The tanneries and warehouses of this former railroad node were first refashioned by artists in the 1970s, and more recently by savvy impresarios, who turned it into a nightlife destination. But in 2003, the real estate company LO Holding Lausanne-Ouchy began sensitively redeveloping the area into a bona fide neighbourhood. LO has already effected significant change in Le Flon, moving the city’s administrative offices into a new building, as well as realizing a symbol of rejuvenation behind it: L’Arbre de Flonville, a blossoming tree sculpture by local designer Olivier Rambert and his London-based collaborator, Samuel Wilkinson. It’s among 10 public art and furniture projects – including a gemstone-shaped public washroom separately designed by Rambert, and Atelier Oï's stainless steel pergola – springing up among LO’s holdings.

While attending planning meetings, Rambert caught wind of a scheme to plant a formal grid of trees in the courtyard of the new municipal building. He and Wilkinson counter-proposed a 30-tonne tree whose steel trunk and branches are crowned by a canopy of larch slats. Their vision won out. L’Arbre is a “kind of reaction to the original idea and a typical public square,” Wilkinson says. “It reflects the area’s industrial heritage while pointing toward the future.” It also improves upon the original garden design, since living root systems could not grow in the shallow space between the ground on which L’Arbre sits and the roof of the shopping centre below.

As one of LO’s first series of interventions, L’Arbre plays a major role in energizing Le Flon. Rambert and Wilkinson imagined the tree’s exposed roots as benches, bolting the faceted steel seats into the sidewalk as much as 46 metres from the massive tree trunk. Wilkinson says, “The roots draw your eye to investigate the courtyard” – especially at night, when integrated LEDs wash the ground in colour. But the courtyard does not welcome all kinds of activity. L’Arbre’s squishy “dirt” (actually rubber mats) discourages skateboarders, who would have disrupted the lounging and picnicking that take place there. 

David Sokol