London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 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
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
×