When Sir Jony Ive isn’t busy narrating Apple’s latest product design theories from inside of a white box, he spends his free time designing one-off products like a desk or a Leica camera. So when tasked with designing a Christmas tree for UK-based hotel Claridge’s holiday get-up, it’s no surprise that the Apple design chief took the minimalist route.
Behold, the most unlit Christmas tree of trees.
No ornaments, no strings. Not even a star or a single box of present underneath.
It’s pretty fitting though: 2016 has been a rather underwhelming year so why not have a tree that’s blah as hell? But before you get mad, Ive and his design partner Marc Newson did go the extra mile by creating an entire lobby set to accompany the tree. In it, you’ll find smaller, similarly unlit trees, surrounded by lightbox walls of snow-covered trees topped by a cloud of green pine.
“Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience.”
The lighting also changes throughout the day to evoke different holiday moods, from wintry nights to sunrise. It’s clear they want you to experience the walk up to the main attraction rather than throwing a gaudy decorative tree and calling it a day.
“There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology. 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," the pair said in a statement.
Sure, the language describing the tree is as self-indulgent as the $300 Apple coffee table book, but I’d rather than have this peaceful-looking tree over Claridge’s previous collaboration with Lanvin in 2011 featuring some super creepy dolls.
The setup is available for public viewing now at Claridge’s in London.
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