A garden design by a pair of Dundee art students has been selected to highlight a historic city tree.
Third-year students from the Interior Environmental Design course at Duncan of Jordanstone were challenged to come up with a concept that would reflect the history and symbolism of the Tree of Liberty, which will be the main feature of the garden at the art college’s new entrance.
The original tree was dug up from a garden in the old Belmont Estate where the art college now stands in 1793 by an excited mob, eager to celebrate the overthrow of the French monarchy during the Revolution.
The uprooted tree was temporarily put in the ground close to the city’s ancient market cross, and the reluctant Lord Provost Riddoch was made to dance around the tree while being subjected to the ridicule of the mob.
The original ash tree was later replanted on the same spot, but subsequently died.
Since then several replacements have been established and the current tree will be replanted between the Matthew and Crawford buildings.
Linsey McIntosh, who teaches on the interior design course, said: “The Tree of Liberty has a colourful past.
“The current tree was at the front of the Matthew Building, hidden away, but we got the new entrance so we wanted to get it reinstated.
“This tree will be picked out and highlighted by the winning design.”
The five-week project, set up by lecturer Janice Aitken, was a collaboration between the Interior Environmental Design course and the university’s department of estates and buildings.
Linsey, who is a graduate of the art college, said: “We had a couple of rounds of the competition.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the third-year students to be involved in a live project and to say they have had a hand in the Tree of Liberty project.”
The winning design, Infinite Freedom by Nicole Tennant and Min Hee, will now be drawn up professionally by the architect responsible for the new Duncan of Jordanstone entrance, to be transformed into a public garden.
Linsey said: “The students have done it very sensitively using mirrors and lines from Robert Burns’ poem The Tree of Liberty.”
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson helped select the winning design.
He said: “It will be great to see the winning design shortly create a fantastic public space just off Perth Road that will be an asset not just to the university campus but to the wider community.”