Heron Tree

The Heron Tree is a project imagined and led by François Delaroziere and Pierre Orefice, co-creators of the Machines de l’île.

This tree was a key element of the original Machines de l’île project, right from the first presentations to Jean-Marc Ayrault, President of Nantes Métropole, in 2002.

A prototype Branch of the Heron Tree was installed in front of the Nefs for the opening of the Machines de l’île on July, 1st 2007.

In 2012, after the great migration of the elements of the Carrousel des Mondes Marins to the banks of the Loire, the authors chose to install the bestiary of the Heron Tree project in the plant-filled Galerie.

Since then, vegetation has colonised this visitor space, including its tropical greenhouse. Around fifteen animals from here and elsewhere have found their place in this ark of biodiversity.

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The Heron Tree in the Galerie des Machines

Since the launch of the project’s study phase in 2017, the Galerie des Machines has been the place where this incredible artistic adventure — one of the authors’ major projects — is shared with visitors. But above all, it is a genuine technical and industrial challenge.