Breaking the tradition, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) put up a radically designed Christmas tree to challenge the public’s notion of the holidays.
The Yuletide icon named the “Tree of Light” ushered in the school’s traditional Chrismans celebration.
Center for Campus Art’s Architect Gerry Torres said the tree is made of recyclable materials, which highlights the need for a more sustainable and environment friendly design.
Architecture students Ira Yap and Chai Cabanez adopted the silhouette of a pine, but have turned it upside down to resemble a parasol.
The six-meter high platform is made of 2×2 strips of wood, more popularly known as dos por dos, stacked one atop another and fastened with screws on a grid.
The tips are randomly painted with red and green, both to signify the season, and to reflect Benilde’s colors, while a floodlight illuminates the structure at night for the duration of the holidays.
The design did not incur any waste, due to a parametric system utilized to compute the exact amount of wood, screws and paint needed of the whole project, aided by software used by many architectural firms abroad.
On the first week of January 2018, after the construction has been disassembled, the timber will be donated to a community to be reused for their needs.