It’s hard to miss the giant mesh cube in Cambridge’s Central Square. The temporary art installation looks like a tent with airy grey mesh fabric held up by four metal poles. Inside there are precast concrete stoops for seating.
Cambridge resident Katherine Neal doesn’t like it.
“It’s just very, like, grey and industrial looking,” she said. “[It’s] kind of an obstruction and an eyesore in this area that is otherwise a lovely little park. ”
Sure that she wasn’t alone in her disdain, Neal turned to the internet. She posted on reddit: “Does anyone else hate this art installation in Central Square?
The comments poured in.
“I always thought it was just for construction or something” one skeptic said.
“I dig the idea! But execution feels like a gag from Parks and Rec lol” quipped another.
One poster jumped to the airy cube’s defense, writing “I actually enjoy it and use it for shade regularly.”
The structure is an art piece called Sun Block, one of five projects created by the Shade is Social Justice program. The program is funded by a $100,000 climate resilience grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Barr Foundation in 2023.
The installation was intended to be both functional and inspirational, according to Cambridge Arts and Culture Planning Director Claudia Zarazua. It’s public art that provided shade and sparked conversation about heat.
“[Heat is] the silent killer, the deadliest climate disaster, and I was excited about how [the designers] were able to make a physical representation of shade that caught the attention of the community, but also welcomed them to use it,” Zarazua said.
As global temperatures continue to rise — 2024 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States — it becomes crucial that the city provide shade for its residents, Zarazua said.
At noon, shadows from trees and buildings cover about 40% of Cambridge’s sidewalks, according to the city’s ShadeScape analysis. Sun Block’s location at Rhone Park gets less than 20% shade midday. Originally scheduled to end at the end of the summer in 2024, Sun Block was reinstalled for another season in June. Zarazua said it’ll come down sometime in September.
On a recent sunny Friday, one person sat inside the shaded structure. Nearby, Madison Kim preferred to seek shade on a bench under a tree.
“It doesn’t kind of seem as welcoming,” Kim said. “ If there were a lot of people sitting in there, maybe I would’ve also ventured my way inside.”
Gabriel Cira and Matthew Okazaki are the architects and co-designers of Sun Block. They are two of five winning designers from a pool of 18 applicants.
They welcomed the criticism.
“I think when people say something is an eyesore, that usually means that they’re unfamiliar with it,” Cira said. “And that is precisely our point is to present something that challenges the expectations of the viewer.”
For instance, Cira chose concrete steps for seating rather than another bench because he thinks stoops, while rare in parks, allow for more organic conversation.
He hopes when people see the concrete stoops they think of “someone just chilling on their front steps, maybe chatting with their neighbors.”
Cira and Okazaki’s assignment came with restrictions: the structure had to be temporary, collapsible and there could be no drilling on the site. The location was chosen because it sits over an MBTA line, so the artists couldn’t excavate at all, not even for additional trees. That makes it difficult to design something for shade.
Some critics have complained about the structure’s $27,000 price tag.
While Cira appreciated the feedback on the appearance, he pushed back on criticism about cost.
“ Twenty-seven K for, like, outdoor grade furniture of any kind is a pretty small budget,” he said. “Not to mention that arts are perennially unfunded, and it’s like, do you want creative people to be able to survive in the city?”
Okazaki said the funding demonstrated Cambridge’s commitment to artists.
“ I think it’s kind of inspirational that the city of Cambridge is actually … investing in the resources for creatives and artists and designers throughout the city,” he said.
Though the city is working on a permanent solution for shade in the area, Zarazua said she doesn’t yet have any design details or dates for construction. But she said the Shade is Social Justice program helped her team secure funding for more art projects in the 2025 budget.
“ I think that is a measure of success,” Zarazua said.
Katherine Neal, the original Reddit poster, recommended the city keep future designs simple.
“There’s already tables with umbrellas in the area,” Neal said. “So if the umbrellas were maybe designed with vibrant fabric from local artists … [that] would support the ideas of the initiative while bringing vibrancy and beauty to the area.”
