Walking up to Paradise Gate, it’s hard to believe that it’s real. At first, I thought there must be some metal skeleton, supporting it, or that it was made of painted walls. But upon a closer examination, I realized that this massive structure was held up by nothing but the saplings that make up the whole.

The beauty of the work is not in the human touch shaping nature, like the art of gardens work. This beauty lies in the fact that Paradise Gate looks like it was made entirely without human intervention. It looks like it has grown up from the ground, like a strange tree. Or that particularly large and architecturally savvy birds have constructed it, and then let the wind sculpt it.

But this is the work of a man. Artist Patrick Dougherty’s creation hides behind Smith College’s Neilson Library, inviting all those who pass by it to come in and take a look.

Dougherty is no stranger to working with saplings. He created his first sculpture in 1982. Since then he has been making these site-specific works internationally, both indoors and out.

The artist spent about three weeks in residency at Smith, starting this past March. First, he worked at gathering the materials, and then planning the structure. Then he, and a group of volunteers that grew bigger by the day, worked at the construction. The sculpture was completed in April.

All in all, the work used 15 truckloads of wood. The saplings were gathered locally. Residents and parks offered up their materials for the installation.

Although Dougherty has also made giant abstract forms in this manner, Paradise Gate, like some of his more recent work, references architecture. The building that it calls to mind, however, may not exist in time and space.

It is a fairy-tale castle made from transient materials. The very nature of it is ethereal. But, the strange nature of the work is immediately overcome by its inviting nature. All of the doors and entranceways beg you to come inside and take a look.

Once inside, after exploring each domed tower and the central “room,” you don’t want to leave. Each tower, though ostensibly similar, is actually different. Some have more doorways, one has large oval windows near to the ground, and another has windows above that act as portals to the sky. These differences again make you believe that this has been naturally formed.

Watching children run inside the sculpture and out again, or resting in one of its towers, or hiding from each other behind the walls, made it yet more difficult to not be enchanted by this work.

The flowers that twist around the branches, the new leaves that have sprung from the tower tops, and the light that streams in, like stained glass in a more casual cathedral, belie the human touch in its creation.

Paradise Gate is a combination of arts that can be intimately experienced. It combines the natural charm of the garden, with the more rigid form of architecture. The result is unlike anything that I have ever seen.

It is structure that looks like it was taken from the imagination of a child, or sprung up from the ground to remind its visitors that they were once children.

Paradise Gate will remain on the grounds of Smith, on Burton Lawn, until next April. And now, while the Valley enters its most beautiful season, is the perfect opportunity to go see this captivating sculpture.