Tree of Generations

Beneath the restored skylight of the former Riggs Bank hall, hundreds of illuminated screens appear among the branches of the Ambassador George L. Argyros Tree of Generations.

Created by the LAB at Rockwell Group for the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, the permanent installation rises 7.3 metres and extends into an 8.8-metre-wide canopy. Its internal steel frame supports a cast and laser-cut aluminium structure surrounded by thousands of dichroic leaves.

Visitors contribute their own image through gallery kiosks or a QR code. Their portraits join more than 1,000 photographs and stories displayed throughout the canopy. Power and data travel through wiring concealed inside the branches, allowing the screens to operate individually or combine into a larger image across the tree.

The interaction does not end with an immediate response. Each contribution enters the installation’s changing collective portrait and becomes part of what subsequent visitors encounter.

By embedding public participation within its physical and digital structure, the tree gives architectural form to ancestry, connection and continuity. Its technology remains largely concealed, supporting an experience shaped by accumulated human presence.