In 1982 , the conceptual artistAgnes Denesset out to make a mountain . After a decennary of work , she made it happen . In 1992 , the Finnish government announce that it would frequent Denes’sTree Mountain — a 125 - foot - tall manmade mountain built on top of a former crushed rock pit , plan to serve as part time capsule , part bionomic recovery undertaking .
Tree Mountain — A aliveness Time Capsulewas construct on the site of a former gravel pit near Ylöjärvi , Finland between 1992 and 1996 . The artificially constructed landmass stick out 125 metrical unit tall , almost 1400 feet recollective , and more than 885 groundwork broad . ( The top prototype of the triptych above shows the mountain in 1992 and the bottom ikon in 2013 . ) The forest planted on it forms a accurate mathematical convention Agnes designed base on thegolden ratio - derived spirals ofsunflowersand pineapple . From above , the ellipse mountain looks like a giant fingerprint made up of whorls of trees .
The project was never signify to just be esthetically pleasing . Envisioned as a way to rehab land destroyed by excavation , the trees are meant to develop undisturbed for 400 class , make what will eventually be an Old Growth woods that can deoxidise corroding , provide wildlife home ground , and hike O production .
And it was a communal exploit . The just about 11,000 pine tree tree were imbed by different individuals who then became the custodians of those tree diagram . Each received a certificate declaring their ownership for the project ’s full term of 400 class . They can pass along this possession to their descendants or to others for as many as 20 generations . These keeper ( which let in former UK prime parson John Major and former Icelandic President of the United States Vigdís Finnbogadóttir ) are even allowed to be bury under their trees . But the trees can never be move , and the peck itself ca n’t be owned or sell off for those 400 years .
“ Tree Mountain is the magnanimous monument on earth that is international in scope , unparalleled in continuance , and not consecrate to the man self , but to benefit future multiplication with a meaningful bequest , ” Deneswrites . It “ assert humanity ’s committedness to the future well being of ecological , social and cultural life on the planet . ”
