See you at YZD, May 23 to June 15! A flock of 50 trees in shopping carts travels throughout the city, stopping to create a refreshing shade canopy in usually-sunny spaces.
City dwellers have long appreciated trees for their beauty, but these familiar green features are often undervalued as critical urban assets – they help cool the environment, protect against flooding, capture carbon, and provide essential shade. Trees are also a barometer of equity in an urban setting. Too often, new communities are built with insufficient space for planting and without the necessary resources to ensure that trees can mature and thrive. Recognizing the need for more tree cover and thoughtful placement, the City of Toronto has set an aggressive goal of raising its tree canopy by 40 percent by 2050, but it is important that the distribution of these new plantings extend the benefits trees offer to all corners of the city.
NL Architects’ Moving Forest (Amsterdam, NL) calls attention to the critical physical and mental health role that urban trees play. The playful installation sees a flock of 50 trees strapped in shopping carts travelling throughout the city, stopping to create impromptu canopies in several exposed plazas.
Moving Forest is also a powerful point of connection, linking established and evolving public spaces throughout the city. The forest begins its journey at YZD, illustrating the role that trees will play in the revitalization of the former Downsview Airport lands – now a blank canvas, and over the course of the next 30 years, will become a vibrant and thriving series of connected neighbourhoods for generations to come.
Explore the installation and join readings and performances beneath the forest leaves.
canopy connections
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Canopy Connections: Doors Open at YZD Experience Centre
Meet us for a tour at the YZD Experience Centre and catch shade under the Moving Forest canopy along route to learn more about the project and significance for our public spaces.
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Canopy Connections: Weekends at YZD
What could be hiding in the tree canopy? Join artist collective, The Buck Teeth Girls Club to explore what ecosystems can exist as a byproduct of the shade, from the tops of the trees to down below the ground. Tracing shadows of the moving forest onto paper and pavement, come and draw in the spaces…
