The Mound was erected to lure visitors, shoppers and tourists back to post-Covid London, as part of a 150 million GBP operation to revive Oxford Street. MVRDV was tasked with the installation after the successful Stairway to Kriterion, which was a hit in Rotterdam and attracted large crowds. The same team designed a hollowed-out “mountain” that would offer views over the park and onto Marble Arch, while the “great hall” at the heart of its scaffolding structure would host the art exhibition. The installation was to not only be fun, but also demonstrate the need to add nature to cities and was meant to encourage Londoners to rethink the area and question why they allowed a former green spot became surrounded by traffic.

From July 26 2021 to January 9 2022, visitors had the opportunity to climb to the viewpoint via a path that wound its way up the hill’s southern slope, after which they could descend into the heart of the hill. This space hosted the Lightfield exhibition by Anthony James, an installation of 16 cubes with an interactive, dancing light show that simulates the interconnected root structure of a birch tree forest.