Canopies
Canopy is a prototype for a mobile shade structure that explores how cooling, shelter and spaces for gathering can be created in the public realm. Trees are, by far, the most effective and generous form of shade in the city. But they need time to grow, and in some locations they cannot easily be planted — for instance above underground infrastructure or parking garages. Canopy was developed for such situations, where immediate protection from heat is needed. Inspired by the way a tree canopy functions, perforated steel plates filter sunlight, allow air to circulate, and cast shifting patterns of light and shadow.
Canopy is part of Soft Shelters, an exhibition on shade structures for a more livable city, developed in collaboration with students from the Faculty of Architecture at KU Leuven. In the coming summers, additional variations of this shade structure will be realised.
Commission
City of Leuven
Location
Tweebronnen Library, Leuven