From concrete jungle to urban forest

The intersection beneath the Western Disributor in Ultimo has been described as an ugly and dangerous place to cross but, come November, the area will be beautifully transformed by one of Sydney’s most innovative art projects.

Almost 10 years in the making, the Life Under the Freeway public art project will see the installation of a glowing golden forest near the intersection of Harris and Fig Streets, a major pedestrian thoroughfare.

Warren Langley, prominent Australian landscape and light artist, created the work Aspire as an homage to the Pyrmont-Ultimo community, which fought to save their houses by having the freeway built overhead in the 1980s. “It’s sort of a political site in some ways: the community forced things to change,” he said.

“And then the whole idea of the trees holding up, that’s a symbol of strength and standing up, which is what the community did.”

But Langley said the main function of the installation was to brighten up what he called a “no-go area”.

“It’s very dark and dim and nothing grows there, and yet it’s still one of the major pedestrian routes from Ultimo into the city, and so the whole idea was to just brighten the place up a bit,” he said.

The ‘trees’ will be internally lit with LED lighting, and will also glow during the day. Mr Langley designed the work to match the scale of the site and be visible to both pedestrians and traffic.

The public art project was created in 2000, through a combined effort of community groups and the City of Sydney Council.