Growing Shade: Climate Justice Through Design

Like many urban areas, Cambridge faces the impacts of climate change and growing socioeconomic inequities, especially in neighborhoods unprepared for high density and lacking summer shade. Growing Shade, part of the City of Cambridge’s “Shade is Social Justice” initiative, addresses this by using low-tech, temporary architecture to create lasting solutions through landscape. Designed for a Bangladeshi immigrant community without shaded public spaces, the project creates an adaptable outdoor “community room” for summer use. Built by A1RE, the structure uses column-like supports inspired by tree stakes, arranged to optimize shade based on the sun’s path. A removable textile canopy offers immediate relief while trees mature to eventually provide permanent shade. With less than a week of construction, Growing Shade demonstrates how fast, low-cost, and flexible design can promote equity in urban public spaces.