Rising outdoor temperatures, driven by climate change and urban conditions such as high-rise density, heat-retaining materials, and the loss of trees, have intensified the urban heat island effect, impacting health, comfort, and urban life. Addressing this challenge is critical to the global effort to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. One of the most effective and accessible solutions is the integration of well-designed green spaces. Research highlights how trees provide shade, create cooler microclimates, and, when strategically arranged, enhance natural ventilation through wind-aligned layouts and green corridors. Beyond thermal performance, proximity to nature also supports mental and emotional recovery. In hot, fast-paced cities, landscape becomes an essential urban infrastructure that cools both the environment and the human experience.
The Long Heal exhibition, under the concept ‘Urban (Fo)rest,’ at Lan Khon Mueang (City Hall Plaza), invites everyone to experience urban forest bathing to restore both body and mind. It fosters interaction between people and the environment, allowing nature to help rebalance human well-being. Through design, the exhibition transforms the city’s hot and rigid hardscape into an elongated, folded pocket forest, creating a variety of interior spaces. This enables easy interaction with nature—through sight, sound, scent, and touch.
Conceived as a series of experiential rooms rather than a single green space, the site weaves nature, people, and emotions into a holistic environment. The Social Room uses greenery as a catalyst for interaction, softening boundaries and encouraging organic conversation. The Forest Room offers a quieter, immersive landscape for forest bathing, inviting visitors to slow down and reconnect with themselves through sensory engagement with nature. The Game Room activates play within a lush natural framework, where planting enhances joy, creativity, and participation, while the Play Room provides children with a safe and imaginative setting to explore, learn, and create through direct interaction with the landscape. Together, these layered environments transform the site into a dynamic yet restorative public realm.
At night, the exhibition is immersed in cool-toned lighting—shades of purple and blue—that offers visual comfort, evokes gentle emotions, and helps release tension. As a result, the garden becomes more than a green space; it transforms into a sanctuary for the mind, inviting everyone to truly restore themselves through nature.
Moreover, within the Phra Nakhon public plaza, a landmark installation by leading architects Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee presents a new vision of urban living in celebration of Bangkok’s vibrant design and creative industries. Titled High Line Bangkok, the project is created by the internationally acclaimed architectural firm HAS Design and Research.
High Line Bangkok reinterprets and elevates Bangkok’s urban infrastructure to respond to the city’s tropical lifestyle, seamlessly integrating sustainable design into everyday urban life. The installation weaves together aesthetic expression and social participation, placing strong emphasis on sustainability, public engagement, and urban vitality. It offers a fresh perspective on how public spaces can be both beautiful and functional—transforming them into dynamic hubs of interaction, sustainability, and community connection, while inspiring new ways of thinking about a socially engaged and sustainable future for Bangkok.
The Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization), in collaboration with Shma and Shma SoEn, invites the public to experience this healing green space at Long Heal, Lan Khon Mueang, from January 29 – February 8, 2026. Together, the project reimagines urban public parks as meaningful Third Places—spaces that connect community activities, support long-term vitality, and respond to everyday life—enhancing physical and mental well-being while sustainably extending our collective lifespan.
