Well… that took longer than expected – it’s been almost a YEAR since the last HAQUE TAN newsletter... Ling & Usman have been super busy and, let’s face it, also reluctant to talk about work before it’s finished, but by then they're already flat out on the next thing…

So here’s something we’re really excited about: our new permanent landscape work is now open to the public at Regent’s Park Estate, London – find out more below. You’ll also hear about our work for urban developers Barking Riverside in a former power station; our scheme for a major new cultural venue in North America; and an upcoming event we’d love you to join! Read on for more…

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New project launches in Central London

Commissioned by Old Diorama Arts Centre & London Borough of Camden

​T(h)ree is HAQUE TAN's first permanent landscape intervention in central London, giving voice to a 200-year-old London Plane tree and its genetically identical siblings. Extending across the entire public garden, with digital networks inscribed on the surface, and cobble sett in grass areas and even the dog run, the project presents a permanent physical manifestation of AI’s hidden infrastructures and ethical dimensions in a public space. You can speak to the tree or ask it questions, and it responds with a constantly evolving voice built on community-configured AI and residents’ memories, stories and subjective perceptions.

Blending natural, human and technological systems, sculptural root-like mounds formed from charred wood and rusted steel emerge from the soil, connected underground by digital and mycorrhizal networks, while an embedded planetary-scale system diagram maps the project’s complex ecological, technological, and social interdependencies.

Prompted by a local resident’s question “if this tree could talk, what stories would it tell?”, we wanted to explore what it would be like if we could speak with, and better understand, our natural neighbours, and what it means to have such conversations in public. Every now and then, you’ll hear it humming the melody to 'Daisy Bell', a reference to early speech synthesis and AI misinterpretation.

We are interested in how recent technologies, like AI and LLMs, can be re-imagined, re-designed and re-presented outside the corporate imagination in more creative and constructive ways that get others involved in building and deploying. Though humans can’t yet directly converse with non-humans, progress has been made – yet we’re still not sure what we will talk about, or how we’ll deal with conflict once we can. Visiting T(h)ree you'll be able to practice those conversations.

Find out more here: https://haquetan.com/t-h-ree/ or visit T(h)ree in person at Clarence Gardens, Regent’s Park Estate, central London – it’s active every day during daylight hours.

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Wild Imaginarium through the seasons When our new entrance for Great Ormond Street Hospital went live in early 2024 we promised you would see it evolve through the seasons! Follow us on Instagram at @HAQUETAN to keep tabs on all our work

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Possibly Impossible?

We were invited last year to propose a new iconic architectural centrepiece for a major public venue in North America. Although the project is currently on hold, our scheme aimed to transform the public venue with a striking – and seemingly ‘impossible’ – tensegrity structure, designed in collaboration with structural engineers Atelier One. Rooted in themes of connectivity and community, the Cloud of Impossibility seeks to link people to place, nature and each other and explore how technology, far from being neutral, mediates our decisions and interactions within the world. This project was really close to our hearts: if it ever gets moving, we’ll be sure to update you!

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Peeling back the layers of a massive infrastructural building

Exposing the building's history and people’s relationship to the area

Working with urban developers Barking Riverside late last year, we transformed the former Barking Power Station Control Room Building in East London into an expansive interactive experience that brought the disused urban structure to life through a project titled Strata.

A core part of the experience was an extensive evolving spatialised soundscape installed throughout the 5000m² building. By weaving together immersive technology, architecture, and multiple community perspectives, the work created an ‘incision’ into the unoccupied infrastructure, inviting visitors to experience the site and its surrounding area at a wide range of scales across space and time: from macro to micro; personal to collective; past to present; material to systemic.

Read more about Strata here: https://haquetan.com/strata/

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More-than-Human Assembly

We're excited to share our More-Than-Human Assembly, an immersive interactive environment designed to explore what it means to make decisions with, not just for, the non-human world. Building on our years of work at the intersection of design, technology, ecology, and public engagement, with projects like Singing Trees, Re:Wild Royal Docks, Replay and others, this project will bring together local communities and non-humans in a forum designed for cross-species deliberation and decision-making. Stay tuned for more, and drop us a line if you’d like to get involved!

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In Other News...

• In case you missed Ling’s feast at Leeds Low Carbon Supper Club, she’s exploring food futures with a Low Carbon Chinatown tasting session on April 25th at Science Gallery, London​.
• In the last few months her work has also appeared at Ars Electronica and Youth Film Festival Antwerp, while Playing Democracy won an Asia Digital Art Award!
• Meanwhile, at Umbrellium-spinout ​Starling Technologies​, where Usman leads on strategy, the sustainable mobility company recently partnered with the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board to boost tram crossing safety.

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