It was 2009 winter when I moved to Canary Wharf. I passed by this sculpture every day believing that it was a Christmas tree. Then spring came and summer and the tree was still there. So with my friends we started to call it the crazy roundabout as the tree was in the middle of a roundabout. The traffic lights were on and off all the time and man couldn’t decide which one to follow.

 Just recently I read an article about the best outdoor sculptures in the world  and my tree was on the top 10 list. This is how I learnt that the tree is actually and artwork by French artist Pierre Vivant. Eight meter tall containing 75 sets of lights stands between two plane trees in the middle of the Marsh Wall roundabout. As it says there were three trees standing in the middle of this roundabout but one became ill because of pollution and had to be removed. The sculpture was installed in 1988 and made the roundabout as one of the most popular one among British drivers.  

Pierre Vivant: Traffic Lights Tree, London, Canary Wharf
photo by Török Viktória

I took these pictures just before I left London this year in March. Sort of saying
goodbye to my favourite area, the Docklands and to my crazy roundabout.