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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 3 May 2007

Sculptor Friedel Buecking sits on one of his works.

Axed cedar tree carves out a new role as a sculpture on estate

A 197-YEAR-old cedar tree cut down in January is enjoying a new lease of life – as sculptures by wood artist Friedel Buecking.
The tree, at the Holly Lodge estate in Highgate, was axed after experts declared it unsafe.
But the estate’s residents’ committee decided to turn the trunk into chairs and a sculpture for the estate.
Mr Buecking, whose works are on display on the South Bank, started making sculptures from the trunk in January.
He said: “Cedar is a lovely material to work with. The tree was nearly two metres in diameter so there was a huge volume of wood to work with. There was about eight tonnes of wood in the tree and I have turned it all into sculptures.”
The sculpture earmarked for the estate incorporates the original Holly Lodge, which no longer exists, in its design. Mr Buecking found old photographs of the lodge and used a chainsaw to carve the piece.
Estate manager Sean Fairweather said: “We had a tree specialist count the rings so we know how old it was. It was a real landmark for people here and it’s nice to see it still has a place on the estate in its new guise.”

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