Phoenix installed nine temporary shade structures across nine parks between April and October 2025 under ¡Sombra! Experiments in Shade, a citywide project that combined public art with heat-mitigation experiments. The initiative received $1 million from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge and involved more than 65 local organisations and businesses.
The city used the installations to test different materials, designs and cooling methods as Phoenix continues to face extreme summer temperatures. The Office of Heat Response and Mitigation and Arizona State University's MaRTY portable weather station measured the cooling effects.
