Famous London hotel The Connaught has unveiled its Christmas Tree 2016. Designed by British sculptor Antony Gormley, the 17.5-meter-high Western Red Cedar tree has been transformed into a giant beam of light for a contemporary approach to the festive season, via a luminous pole running up its core.

“I thought that rather than decorating the outside of the Christmas tree it would be fun to light its core; the trunk, transforming it into a radiant center against which the branches would become illuminated and silhouetted,” said Gormley. “At this, the darkest time of the year and at a moment of global dysfunction, I hope this magnificent tree conveys a feeling of continuance and vitality.”