«CO2», an installation on urban greenery in Piazza del Sole

The travelling installation «CO2» will be inaugurated on Friday 7 August in Piazza del Sole in Bellinzona. The event is set for 10.33am and is open to the public.

The initiative is promoted by the Department of Territory in collaboration with the City of Bellinzona, the Institute of Earth Sciences at SUPSI and the Amur association. The work was designed by the «Approccio mediazione urbana» association.

The stated aim is to raise awareness of the importance of greenery in urban spaces.

How the installation is built

The structure is modular and built from biocompatible materials that host various plant species.

It is not an object to be observed from a distance. The installation works as an accessible space of sensory immersion with an educational purpose, and seeks to convey the role plants play in built environments.

Speaking at the opening will be Gastone Boisco for the Amur association, Vito Lo Russo and Henrik Bang for the City of Bellinzona, Michele Fasciana for the Department of Territory and Annalisa Rollandi for the SUPSI Institute of Earth Sciences.

Choosing a travelling structure makes it possible to take the same display to several places without building new structures. It is a solution that reduces the cost of each stop and adapts to squares with different characteristics.

The format relies on direct experience rather than explanation. Walking through a planted space in a paved square makes perceptible a difference that temperature data describe without making it felt.

The statement does not say which stops will follow on the itinerary.

The theme arrives in a season when urban heat is measurable. Paved surfaces store heat and release it in the evening hours, while vegetation works in the opposite direction through shade and evaporation.