Branded sculpture for the Eco-City

Sculptures have always been the domain of artists, a solitary art form expressing a personal point of view. When we were commisioned to work on this sculpture, we wanted to tell a story. A story about urbanization and nature. A story about our client’s endeavour. A story that grows and blossoms.

Our client is Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, the mastermind behind the biggest and most ambitious project to date in China on sustainable urban living. This township of 30 sq km developed jointly by Chinese and Singapore government is a showcase of environmentally friendly solutions to the urban problem, which will be a great challenge for the future as China’s urban population will increase to 70% of total population by 2035, roughly translating to an increase of about 600 million people.

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City

New Beginning

This installation adopts in its design the logo of SinoSingapore Tianjin EcoCity Investment and Development Co., Ltd (SSTEC), which is a seed that holds the promise of a new beginning. Seed leaves encapsulate the seedling – a crabapple tree – offering it nutrients and protection. The crabapple tree emerges from the seed leaves, reflecting growth and the natural progression of life, and symbolizes the growth and transformation of the Eco-City from a saline wasteland into a vibrant city, under the support and care of China and Singapore.

The seedling is represented by a living tree while the seed leaves are shaped from concrete to symbolize the urban environment.

Integrating manmade forms with nature, the installation is an expression of social inclusiveness and harmony between man and nature. This embodies the vision of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City and also reflects SSTEC’s corporate culture.

The logo was meant to encapsulate this green vision. A seed from which the promise of a better future will blossom.

We reimagined this visual into a 3 dimensional form, a protective seed pod in the middle of which an actual living tree stands. A symbosis between the built environment and nature, a growing sculpture that also signifies the collaboration between the two governments and the marrying of their joint talents, efforts and foresight.

This comission was a design and build. We oversaw the entire process from protoyping to on-site installation. From a 1:20 3D printed model, to a 1:5 trial application of the gradient, to the final cast of the glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC).