Despite their piercing stingers and painful venom, bees are benevolent creatures. And what’s more—they’re an essential part of the global food chain. Thanks to bee pollination, the earth is ripe with fresh produce, like tomatoes, onions, and carrots, as well as hundreds of varieties of fruits and oilseeds. In celebration of these munificent creatures, Kew Gardens in London is presenting The Hive, a massive, experiential installation and homage to the work of bees. The structure was designed by Wolfgang Buttress in collaboration with BDP and Simmonds Studio for the U.K. Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo and is the first-ever British pavilion to return to its home country for display.
The pavilion was first shown at the 2015 Milan Expo.
From the outside, Buttress’s Hive looks like a mirage—a surreal 55-foot-tall floating network of delicate silver lattices erected in a vibrant meadow of wildflowers. But it’s not until visitors enter the structure that the action really begins. Once inside, gardengoers will experience the whimsical twinkle of thousands of flickering LED lights accompanied by an orchestral arrangement inspired by the deep, melodic hum of bees. To provide further insight into life inside a bee colony, the tempo of the music and intensity of the lighting within the artificial, human-size hive is triggered by the real-time activity inside a living beehive, situated nearby in the gardens. The figurative buzz of the installation can be felt all around Kew, with pollination-inspired programming and food offered throughout the run of the exhibition. Through November 2017; kerg
Inside The Hive.
