Venetian and Palazzo display topiary women with flowery gowns

The Venetian and Palazzo bring the summer scenery inside with a floral installation that changes color every month as new flowers bloom.

The displays in front of the Waterfall Atrium outside Barneys New York and in the lobby of the Palazzo take their inspiration from Venetian women and their elaborate dresses and masks worn during the annual Carnival season in Venice, Italy.

The focal point of the installation? Nine-foot tall topiaries shaped like Venetian women. A 3-D computer, similar to CGI models used in movies, created the works.

The bodies of the topiaries use aluminum pieces cut using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and then hand-finished by a sculptor. Aluminum plates with slots to hold florist foam and the thousands of flowers make up the Venetian-style dresses.

The project took about two years to complete with hundreds of hours spent on design and art direction. A computer model of the space took three months alone to build. A team of 20 floral designers, gardeners and engineers worked 1,200 hours to install the summer floral display.

During June, the dresses feature white, pink, peach and cream flowers to celebrate wedding season. When July rolls around, the gardens change over to jewel tones in hot pinks, purples and reds. The display wraps up in August by changing over to autumn tones in oranges, yellows, reds and browns.

The displays are free and open to the public.

Info: Venetian