Leeds 2023 Making A Stand: The story behind the huge sculptural forest in Leeds City Square

Last week, the Making A Stand sculpture forest was unveiled in City Square, near the railway station, after a few weeks of construction. The 127 seven-metre-high timber fins were created by acclaimed visual artist Michael Pinsky and award-winning environmental architects Studio Bark.

Making A Stand is one of 12 signature projects commissioned as part of LEEDS 2023 and is inspired by the city’s origins as a forested area called Leodis over a thousand years ago, which gave rise to the name Leeds.

The creators wanted to draw attention to the need for the built environment industry to replace carbon-intensive materials like concrete and steel with more sustainable alternatives such as timber and to demonstrate that large-scale, temporary art can also be created in a sustainable way.

The timber fins, which were felled from sustainable forests in the country where wood is grown for use in construction, are positioned vertically making them quite literally ‘stand up’. By design, the wood can be repurposed at the end of the year, minimising waste and maximising opportunities for carbon capture and storage.

Artist Michael Pinsky said: “It’s crucial to differentiate between forests grown as crops for synchronised harvesting and forests left undisturbed to mature. Both types of forests play a vital role in carbon capture and contribute to a sustainable planet.

“For Making A Stand, our emphasis lies with commercially grown wood suitable for construction. For the last century or more, wood has been overlooked as a building material despite medieval structures adorned with wooden beams dating back hundreds of years. We want to draw attention to the potential of timber as a low carbon construction material and encourage conversations surrounding material life cycles.

“Making a Stand serves as a reminder of the climate crisis and that we have been able to live symbiotically with nature for centuries – this city is even named after the ancient forest upon which it is built. We can do this again, as long as we channel our astonishing technical ingenuity towards an ecologically focused future.”

Leeds City Council aims to make the city carbon neutral by 2030. Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “We’re proud and excited that one of the city’s most recognisable spaces is the setting for such a striking and thought-provoking artwork.

"What makes this beautiful project particularly special is that is brings together our ambitions for Leeds to be both a world class cultural destination and a city that’s doing all it can to make the world a cleaner, greener and better place.

“I’m sure the tens of thousands of people who will see ‘Making a Stand’ will be impressed and inspired by the artistic ingenuity behind LEEDS 2023 and by what this stunning creation says about the city we want Leeds to be.”

The installation is accessible by wheelchair and an audio description is available. The installation will be up until the end of the year and will host a series of activities and events from yoga and dance to poetry and music. Find out more information on the LEEDS 2023 website.