Making a Stand

127 vertical wooden fins stand proudly in Leeds City Square. Each plank bears bark on its waney edge, whilst exposing a clean geometrical cut on the other. This mass of wood is organised in a strict grid, interrupting its regular pattern to accommodate the existing, sculptures, trees and street furniture. The grid is superimposed on the square, out of sync with the surrounding architecture, as if dropped from outer-space. Within this artificial forest voids are cut out and covered to offer spaces for reflection, performance and gathering. Making a Stand borrows wood from the supply chain. It takes the first roughly cut planks and weathers them for a year, adding financial value to the wood. At the end of the year every wooden fin will go to a new home to create a new resource, whether this be a summer house, a garden planter or a community hall. 
Commissioned by Leed2023
A collaboration with Studio Bark.