A City Grown on Trees

By Catelyn Liao (2019) pencil on cardboard

If a human manipulates the roots of a Banyan tree, they can form structures and keep growing for years. Inspired by a Banyan tree bridge made of living tree roots that have stayed for over 100 years in my hometown, I could not help thinking that even a city could be built on a tree that keeps growing. Thus, the city would develop and spread out together with the vertical growth of the tree trunk and the horizontal growth of the branches.

An interesting issue this image brings up is the right of enjoying the sunlight. Given the city itself is made of layers of neighbourhoods on top of one another, the higher level you live on, the closer you are to the sun. Does this ‘Right of Enjoying the Sunlight’ affect the demography of this city?