Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
Ongoing at the Presidio of San Francisco
British artist Andy Goldsworthy celebrates the Presidio’s landmark forest in this ongoing, organically evolving project. Goldsworthy has created three site-specific installations, all making use of trees felled as part of the Presidio’s reforestation and park management efforts: the monumental yet ephemeral Spire (2008), the sinuous Wood Line (2011), and the imposing, architectural Tree Fall (2013). While Spire articulates the space into which trees grow, and Wood Line investigates the evolving relationship a tree has with the ground, Tree Fall explores what occurs below ground.
Over time, the natural materials used in Spire and Wood Line will decay and return to the earth. During their lifespan, all three of Goldsworthy’s installations will stand as reminders of the history of the Presidio’s forest — planted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the US military — and as meditations on the relationship between the natural and the built environments.
COVID-19 UPDATE: The Presidio remains open to the public, though some park-operated public facilities may be temporarily closed. You can read more about their response to the coronavirus crisis, including how to safely and responsibly visit the Presidio, at this link.
Andy Goldsworthy, Tree Fall, 2013
Photography by Jan Stürmann
Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
Tree Fall
Andy Goldsworthy’s installation Tree Fall (2013) presents visitors with a potent reminder of the relationship between the Presidio’s natural and built environments. Like Goldsworthy’s earlier Spire and Wood Line, Tree Fall is constructed from a tree removed as part of the Presidio’s park management efforts; in this case, a eucalyptus felled for the Presidio Parkway project has been combined with clay derived from surrounding land. Installed inside the historic Powder Magazine on the Presidio’s Main Post, Tree Fall provides an unexpected perspective on the Presidio and its forest, bringing elements of the outdoors in and making visible what might otherwise be hidden underground.
Creating this imposing installation within the Powder Magazine, an historic landmark–designated building originally used to store munitions, posed unique challenges. In order not to compromise the building’s structure and historical fabric, FOR-SITE worked with structural engineers and fabricators to build an architectural substructure on which Tree Fall was installed. The installation was completed with the help of more than 40 community volunteers.
Andy Goldsworthy, Spire, 2008
Photography by Jay Graham
Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
Spire
Andy Goldsworthy’s towering sculpture Spire (2008) is constructed from the trunks of 37 Monterey cypress trees felled as part of the Presidio’s reforestation effort. Inspired by the form of church bell towers but rooted in the earth, the artwork evokes the layering of natural and human history in the Presidio’s forest, which was planted by the US military in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
From its 15-foot diameter, Spire rises more than 90 feet into the air. The height of the sculpture and its placement presented unique challenges. Architects, structural engineers, and preservationists were all brought into the process. To ensure stability, the keystone tree was lifted by a 350-ton crane, anchored into a metal sleeve within a 12-foot-deep hole, and surrounded by poured concrete. Spire was partially burned in a fire in 2020. In its new incarnation, the work’s blackened surface invites meditation on themes of loss and fortification, remembrance and renewal.
Andy Goldsworthy, Wood Line, 2011
Photography by Monique Deschaines
Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
Wood Line
Andy Goldsworthy’s Wood Line (2011) is made from eucalyptus branches laid out in a sloping, sinuous curve through a standing eucalyptus grove near Lovers’ Lane, the Presidio’s oldest footpath. Like the artist’s earlier Spire, the work responds and adds to the layers of human history in this forest, which was planted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Goldsworthy has described the movement of the piece through the landscape as “drawing the place.”
Installation of the sculpture required a delicate touch, sited as it is directly underneath a section of the Presidio’s federally designated historic forest. In order not to disturb the trunks or root systems of the venerable, towering eucalyptus trees that surround the path, the logs were transported and placed using the utmost care.
Map of the artworks in the Presidio
Tree Fall
Closed until further notice.
Admission: Free
Tree Fall is located in the historic Powder Magazine (Building 95) in the Presidio’s Main Post.
Wood Line
Open to the Public
Admission: Free
Wood Line is in the cypress grove near the intersection of Presidio Boulevard and West Pacific Avenue, just off Lovers’ Lane.
Spire
Open to the Public
Admission: Free
Spire is on the Bay Area Ridge Trail near the Arguello Gate, west of Inspiration Point Overlook and north of the Presidio Golf Course Clubhouse.