by Cambridge residents are putting a Central Square public art installation, intended to provide shade, in the hot seat.
The piece, “
Sun Block
,” part of Cambridge’s Shade is Social Justice program, features a mesh cube over concrete steps.
“Shade is Social Justice is an opportunity for artists and designers to explore imaginative solutions to the problem of heat islands throughout the city, particularly in areas with the highest risks,” according to the
program website
.
While the other installations are located in parks, Sun Block is located in the cultural district of Central Square and is “intended to be the most bold and creative” one, Cambridge Arts and Cultural Planning Director Claudia Zarazua said.
The “urban nature” of the location, as well as the initiative requirements, inspired architects and co-designers Gabriel Cira and Matthew Okazaki to create such a large-scale piece. “We wanted to actually provide a significant amount of shady, cool space,” said Cira.
Cira and Okazaki also worked with local businesses and stakeholders to create the design. Community members have provided “pretty positive” feedback, Cira said.
However, not everyone is a fan.
A post on the Cambridge subreddit last month — “
Does anyone else hate this ‘art’ installation in Central Square?
” — has garnered nearly 200 comments, with many agreeing with the poster’s premise and some saying they mistook the installation for a construction site. And the commenters were direct.
“Also the stupid concrete steps,” one wrote. “They’re uncomfortable; they look bizarre next to the lovely curved lines of the nearby flower beds; they’re oriented in ways that don’t allow groups to converse together so it’s very antisocial. I hate it.”
“NOT ART” another simply put.
As for the artists, they don’t seem to mind.
“I’m actually quite happy to see people engaging online with their own aesthetic biases critically” and their expectations “for the normal, built environment,” Cira said.
“If there’s a dialogue about what art should look like, that’s really productive and rich,” although the project is about public infrastructure as much as it is art, Okazaki added.
The mesh and concrete materials are “almost a counterpoint or a reaction to some of the heavily polished, new construction areas around Central Square,” he said.
“So much of public space in a gentrified city is transactional space … or space for movement.” Cira continued. “This is meant to be a space” that “is truly public.”
The City of Cambridge aimed to “spark conversation about the need for shade” and “overall wanted to raise awareness about heat,” said Zarazua.
“You can see six inches of snow. You can see two inches of rain, but you cannot see what an 85-degree day looks like,” she said.
The Shade is Social Justice structures come down in September and will not return for a third year unless more funding is acquired.
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