London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

Artist unveils ambitious plans for a forest in central London

Artist unveils ambitious plans for a forest in central London

London's Somerset House, a well-known historical arts center in the middle of the capital, will soon be home to a forest of 400 trees.

The installation will be the centerpiece of the upcoming London Design Biennale -- an international design exhibition that runs across three weeks.

The mastermind behind the display is the event's artistic director Es Devlin, an artist and designer in her own right who built a name for herself fashioning dynamic sets for the live shows of Adele, Kanye West and Lady Gaga.

London Design Biennale's artistic director and stage designer, Es Devlin


Branching out from tradition


By installing the trees, Devlin will be breaking a rule dating back to the 18th-century which prohibits the planting of trees in the building's courtyard.

"Forest for Change", featuring 23 different varieties of tree, is a response to the Biennale's call to action, set by Devlin: "how can design provide solutions to the major challenges of our time?"

The green space will project a message of collective action and aims to bring life to the solutions necessary to confront global issues such as the coronavirus, environment degradation and migration.

To bring the forest to fruition, Devlin will work alongside landscape designer Philip Jaffa and Urban Greening Specialists, Scotscape.

"Of course, the first thing we wanted to do when considering this year's Biennale was to counter this attitude of human dominance over nature," Devlin said in a press release. After settling on Somerset House as the location for this summer's event, Devlin promptly instructed there be an entire forest built inside the previously off-limits space.

Plans unveiled today show "Forest for Change" will include an interactive installation on the United Nation's "Global Goals" -- a 17-step plan for eradicating poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030 -- at the center of the wilderness.

"In literature forests are often places of transformation: the forest of Arden in Shakespeare, the enchanted forests of the Brothers Grimm," said Devlin. "The UN Global Goals offer us clear ways to engage and alter our behavior and it is our hope that an interaction with the Goals in the forest will be transformative."

"Forest for Change: The Global Goals Pavilion" opens to the public on 1st June and will be created in partnership with Project Everyone, a not-for-profit communications agency founded by British filmmaker Richard Curtis to support and extend the reach of the Global Goals.

"Bringing a forest into the courtyard at Somerset House for the first time is a bold statement that mirrors the audacious nature of the Goals," Curtis explained in a press statement, "they are the most ambitious plan the world has to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change."

"Forest for Change" is showing at Somerset House as part of the London Design Biennale from 1-27 June 2021.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×