Apple design chief Jony Ive and longtime collaborator Marc Newson's take on the London hotel Claridge's Christmas tree has been revealed – and perhaps not surprisingly, there's not a bauble in sight.

Ive Christmas tree
Mayfair's landmark festive tree has been drawing crowds since 2009, when notable designers began creating the seasonal decoration each year. But Ive and Newson's interpretation takes the tradition to another level – albeit a minimalist one – by transforming the hotel's lobby into a natural grove of unadorned birch trees as part of a living light and sound installation. The designers had this to say:

Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience that celebrates our enormous respect for tradition while recognising our excitement about the future and things to come. There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology.

Design and style magazine Wallpaper described a scene in which a series of vast four meter-high light boxes line the walls, illuminating black-and-white images of snow-capped silver birch trees, against which "towering cast models of Scots pine rise to a canopy of natural green pine".

The accompanying forest soundscape begins with a dawn chorus and features owls, nightingales, sparrows, and foxes. Synced to the audio is specially choreographed lighting that cycles from sunrise to nighttime, creating a dappled effect in the installation space. At the center of the grove, a smaller sapling tree appears to grow in the transitions of light, which the designers describe as a symbol of the future.

The installation is open to the public and free to enter, and will remain in London's Claridge's hotel throughout the festive season.

Top Rated Comments

saudor Avatar
104 months ago
Must say.. They did an awesome job hiding all the dongles needed to power all of that.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Speedy Dingo Avatar
104 months ago
I think it looks nice. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯



Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
104 months ago
There's that word again:

"Magical!" :-/
[doublepost=1479644557][/doublepost]

Because Jonny is too busy designing Christmas trees to be worried about updating the Mac line of products?
People seem to have this mistaken notion that Ive exists solely to design Apple products and nothing else.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dilster3k Avatar
104 months ago
I'm surprised Sir Jony didn't go with this instead

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Scottsoapbox Avatar
104 months ago
If only Ivy pit the same effort into his designs that he puts into describing them...
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
8012R3 Avatar
104 months ago
There's that word again:

"Magical!" :-/
[doublepost=1479644557][/doublepost]
Here we go again.

(Braces for next wave of utterly inane criticism and trolling).

On a side note, why is this in the Mac blog?
Because Jonny is too busy designing Christmas trees to be worried about updating the Mac line of products?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
best early black friday deals

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Friday November 1, 2024 8:21 am PDT by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 29 in 2024. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
M3 Pro Max vs M4 Pro Max Feature

Here's How Much Faster M4 Pro/Max Are for Graphics vs. M3 Pro/Max

Friday November 1, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are impressively fast in terms of CPU performance, topping the M2 Ultra, but what about graphics performance? The first Geekbench 6 results for GPU performance are now available for the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and the Metal scores reveal some impressive year-over-year gains. Based on the Metal scores that are available so far, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are up to...
imac video apple feature

What to Expect From Apple This November

Friday November 1, 2024 9:40 am PDT by
After a busy October in which Apple announced new Macs and Apple Intelligence launched, the calendar has now turned to November. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple this month as the slower-but-still-busy holiday season approaches. After seeding the first betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 with additional Apple Intelligence features last month, Apple will likely...