Current Issue #488

PARK (ING) Day 2014

PARK (ING) Day 2014

International PARK(ing) Day held on Friday, September 19 required a camera; a notebook, an app and a six-person jury to distill the multiple ideas and ways people were reconnecting and interacting with the city.

Throughout the year I can normally count on one hand how many people  see using a car park in the Adelaide CBD for something other than parking a car, and those times I normally wish I didn’t see what had occurred. International PARK(ing) Day held on Friday, September 19 required a camera; a notebook, an app and a six-person jury to distill the multiple ideas and ways people were reconnecting and interacting with the city. The simple notion of PARK(ing) Day – that if you can pay for a parking space you can transform it into an urban public space – has been transforming Adelaide since 2010, and this year those who participated didn’t let Adelaide down. From swing dancing to birthday parties to creating green walls, the 25 PARKs spread from Hindmarsh Square to Hindley Street celebrated Adelaide, questioned what was unique about the city and asked everyone passing by to stop for a moment and pause. Congratulations go out to TAFE SA Group A (Tonsley TAFE) – Spring in the City who were awarded the Jury choice and Picture This – How do you see yourself? who were awarded The Adelaide Review’s People’s Choice Award, voted via the world’s first PARK(ing) Day smart phone app, developed by CodeFish Studio. These winning PARKs were just two examples of many that were creative, colourful and made people interact with the teams or just simply smile as they walked past. The loss of a few car parks between 9am and 4pm on one day of the year resulted in bursts of colour and movement, spontaneous smiles, interaction between strangers and increased foot traffic… Who could argue that this is a bad thing? Janelle Arbon, Adelaide PARK(ing) Day Committee

PARK(ing) Day Q+A’s

Alaura Bettess visited some of the interesting PARKS on PARK(ing) Day and found out the concept and motivation for their creations. OUTERSPACE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS (LYNDON SLAVIN, ELIZABETH LONG, GIOVANNI HOJILLA, DANIEL SMITH) What is the concept for your PARK? It’s our 10th year at Outerspace Landscape Architects. So the theme is backyard birthday party. We have backyard food such as fairy bread and chips and we also have pin the tail on the donkey, egg and spoon races, a piñata and a sack race. We wanted to bring back some childhood memories and some silliness and fun to the city environment. We design a lot of playgrounds and childcare centres, so it brings out our concept of being playful and having a bit of fun. How has the public perception and response been? Positive. All ages have shown interest. People have loved the colourful design and how it is bringing it back to the basics of the original concept of PARK(ing) Day. TAFE SA – SPRING IN THE CITY (REBECCA GERBER, ANDREA HIGGS) What is the concept for your PARK? We are interior design students and that’s what we do – create spaces for people to have fun in and enjoy. People can either make their own flower to add to our vertical garden, or they can take it back to their office space. We want to bring the outside in. How has the public perception and response been? Terrific. The youngest we’ve had is a one year-old, but people of all ages have shown interest. A lot of people say thank you for bringing something different into the city environment. ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL – PLACEMAKING (KYLIE BENNETTS) What is the concept for your PARK? We hoped to create a zen garden. We really wanted to create an oasis in the city where people can come and relax and chill out. How has the public perception and response been? We’ve had a great response. People have really enjoyed having a spot in the city wherethey can take some time out and have a relaxing green tea. FLIGHTPATH ARCHITECTS – FUN (DANIEL SCHUMANN, SOPHIE NEWLAND) What is the concept for your PARK? It is called FUN. We wanted to make it a more architectural park concept. Because we are an architecture firm we wanted to show how we can re-use and recycle materials, so we have doors and pallets. And Jenga is our FUN part (also made out of wood). How has the public perception and response been? It’s a bit early in the day. Everyone is looking around and are a bit curious. They are mainly asking about the event. But we hope that people will just have a bit of fun in their work day.

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