The Pyramid-Tree

A lone tree on a hilltop / A wooden skeletal frame

The Pyramid on Bič marks the entrance to the Trebnje Commune and is without doubt situated in the central Slovenian territory. The Dolenjska Region and this place are most certainly of great importance for the Slovenian people as a whole, considering that…FULL TEXT

(Mr Alojzij Kastelic, Trebnje Commune Mayor, Media statement at the public opening)

The pyramid with its inseparable connection with the tree which it environs is an answer to a "powerful" place of a hill with a dominant tree on top.

Visually, the place is exceptionally exposed, lying above the valley traversed by a highway and visible from far around the region. What makes the place unique is the position of the pear tree on its summit – an undoubtedly prominent, eloquent place, calling out and demanding an answer.

The pyramid is the answer, a completion of the place in its opposite. We responded to the natural sign with an abstract one and so united nature and culture in a single place: a living being and a rigid skeleton construction, two contrasting archetypes – the tree and the pyramid, which are not mutually exclusive, however, but complementary. The pyramid upgrades and surpasses the existent place, both the physical as well as the social – it is its added value. The wooden prefabricated construction would mark this specific place for a period of one year (until the end of 2008) in which a tree goes through all the annual growth cycles.

While the construction was still in progress, and even more so after its completion, the place was visited by many people, stirring something in them. This is the main potential of this spatial sign. The pyramid with the tree is turning into a place of convergence, a sort of a pavilion in the wider landscape, while at the same time offering opportunities for gatherings and exchanging ideas, for various cultural and other manifestations (exhibitions, art camps, literary evenings, concerts, performances, etc.).

Date of Implemetation:

September and October 2007

Place/Locus:

The hill above the Bič Village at the town of Veliki Gaber, the Trebnje Commune, in the Dolenjska Region

Technique:

A prefabricated wooden skeletal construction

Dimensions:

A three-sided pyramid of base 18.20 m and height 14.85 m; no. of poles: 480; pole length: 2.60 m

Number of Participants:

Up to 30 volunteers

Implementation Process:

The pyramid is a prefabricated wooden skeletal construction made of dried-up spruce poles 2.6 m long. After the dried-up spruce trees were cut, trimmed and brought from the forest, they were cut to size, peeled and sharpened. Into their ends we drilled holes 20 cm long and painted the wood with silicon stucco paint. Steel rods measuring 8 mm in diameter and 10 mm in length were welded into connection joints.

Following a month-long preparation, the material was carried to the hilltop where the construction around the pear tree was built in five days. The first-storey poles had already been cut to size and were modified only later, on the spot. After the first storey had been put together and levelled, we carried on higher, using scaffolds and finally a car lift.

Media Coverage:

Television: Vaš kanal – televizija Novo mesto (Novice)
Press Releases: Slovenske novice, Dolenjski list, Kmečki glas, Direkt, and two area oulets, Grajske novice and Cajtng

Final Event Organized by:

Društvo Zagon Tržišče

Main Project Sponsor:

Trebnje Commune (Občina Trebnje)

Final Event Sponsored by:

Gozdno gospodarstvo Novo mesto d. d.; JUB d. d.; HERMI – neopazni strelovodi d. o. o; Montažna in ključavničarska dela Rudi Prosenik s. p.; Sevnica Commune; VIŠINA d. o. o., najem dvižnih ploščadi; Elektro Veber – Gregor Veber s. p.; SITAR – dela specialnih strok Mirko Sitar s. p.; Trgovina, prevozi in manipulativne storitve Branko Resnik s. p.; Sadjarstvo Brečko, Šentjanž; Balonarski klub Zajček; KS Tržišče; JSKD OI Trebnje; Elektromehanika Branko Gregorič s. p.; the Zalokar family, Hrastnik; Ključavničarstvo Papež s. p.; Gostilna in pizzerija Šeligo