Landscape Journal Summer 2022: Planning for Beauty

Changing Spaces in Somerset House

The Forest for Change at the London Design Biennale challenged the dictum of the building’s architect that no tree should be planted in the courtyard, and in so doing, raised awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Goals.

In June 2021, the Forest for Change adorned the courtyard of Somerset House, London, home to the London Design Biennale, the first major public event in this space following lockdown. Conceived by Es Devlin, I created a forest of juvenile trees with a glade at its heart, where the public would happen upon an art installation celebrating the 17 Global Goals agreed at COP25 in Paris by the UN.

The creation of this event space was indeed a journey of the heart, whilst unexpectedly also an education into the effects of climate change on tree selection for our urban environments.

Global Goal 15 – Protecting all Life on Land, and as such, forests are vitally important for sustaining life on earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. This was our starting point for the project, whilst agreeing that the forest’s purpose was to shroud the art piece by Es Devlin. Having designed the 450-tree forest in terms of tree shape and form to achieve this, the challenge soon became which tree species to choose and to justify why, with the “why” fast becoming the pressing question of the day.

The Mayor of London visits the scheme

© Adam Lawrence

The initial temptation was to plant a native forest. A native tree is defined as a tree that colonised Britain some 10,000 years ago since the last Ice Age. However, increasing numbers of pests and diseases are attacking the UK’s trees, some with devastating consequences. Many of these problems have been imported, a consequence of the increasing use of European trees that tolerate our changing climate better than the natives. Current diseases within our native tree communities include Ash dieback (chalara), whilst our native oaks are declining at an unprecedented rate due to drought, flooding, pollution, pests, and diseases such as oak dieback and wilt. Horse chestnuts are under threat both from a bacterium (bleeding canker) and a leaf miner. The list goes on. Significantly, these trees are no longer readily available in our tree nurseries and hence were not available for our use.

Looking around London streets for inspiration, I discovered the incredible fact that there are more than 500 tree species on its streets today. When did this happen?

Speaking to David Johnson of Barcham Trees, I learnt that the major suppliers had been increasingly growing trees adapted to the changing climate of the urban environments for years – information we all know, but now put into context. Hence, trees that grow tight crowns and therefore do not restrict passing traffic or encourage root systems to spread which, as a result, thrive within restricted root zones, tolerate higher temperatures and stronger pollution levels, and have lower water demands.

The final piece to my jigsaw came during a conversation with Tony Kirkham MBE VHM, former head of the Arboretum, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, about his struggles with their trees because of the reality of climate change. He said: “The best way to ensure the long-term sustainability of our urban trees communities is to plant as wide a range of tree species as possible, because we don’t quite know what will happen.”

View of the Forest at night.

© Project Everyone

Learning in the Forest

© Project Earthshot

Given the circumstances, this appeared to be the common-sense approach to the future of urban tree planting and my forest. Ultimately, the final selection for the Biennale was made up of 26 different species including several natives. The considered placement of each tree created differing sensory journeys to the art, while screening it, and, importantly, created a great-looking multi-height, form, and colour tone collective for the month of June.

Finally, the importance of the forest’s legacy was not lost. Following the Biennale, all trees were donated to the London Boroughs of Islington and Southwark, where they have been rehoused in numerous community schemes, schools, and streetscapes.

Philip Jaffa is the founding director of Scape Design with 30 years’ experience designing landscapes for the international tourism industry. Philip is passionate about the issues that motivate today’s ‘Conscious Traveller’ and as such pushes the debate around regenerative design, circular economies and how best to preserve the world’s most precious landscapes in relation to the future of travel.