The People’s Canopy is architecture for events and architecture as event. They are retractable canopies that can cycled by citizens, paraded through the city and expanded over the length of entire streets, linking disconnected public space.

 The project was first commissioned in 2015 by the city of Preston in the UK and In Certain Places, an arts program for urban interventions and events with the aim of connecting people and rejuvenating the declining urban center. The People’s Canopy were later installed in Hong Kong as part of the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture Bi-City Biennale and in Leuven, Belgium for the YOUtopia Festival. The canopies will be continually used for many years in both Preston and Leuven, sometimes used separately dispersed in different locations and sometimes collectively for large events.

The design references expandable street food canopies popular in Southern China. The two-story high expandable roof structure on bicycle wheels can seat up to 10 cyclists. It is designed to collapse to the size of a double-decker bus so that it can be pedaled from one location to another. When parked, a canopy can open like an accordion to 12 meters in length at a span of 10 meters to cover entire streets.