Improving the City Life Quality Through Small and Precise Interventions in Urban Structures
Tag Key ACTIVITIES
describe the main goal of the intervention.
CULTURAL - activities, objects and spaces for empowering cultural realm ESTHETIC - contributes to urban enrichment of public space through beautification processes FUNCTIONAL - activities of pragmatic nature LANDMARK - enhancement of landscape diversity and identity LUDIC - generates enjoyment of public spaces as a city playground RE-DO - acts of recycling, reusing and reclaiming of public space in order to create new interactions with urban environment SOCIAL - acts of improving our social environment through exchanging experiences, wishes and ideas
MEDIUM
is method used to achieve desired goals.
- solid permanent structures - festivity time and social gathering FURNITURE - new elements in public spaces for additional functionality and urban lounge GARDENING - cultivation and activities related to nature and community agricultural production GASTRONOMY - culinary art and food preparation in public space INSTALLATION - art as a manifestation of specific site and in close relation to its environment PAINTING - act of applying paint or other coat on a surface SCULPTURE - aspect and expression of plastic art in an urban environment TECHNOLOGY - enhancing interraction, networking and effects by new technologies and their possibilities CONSTRUCTION EVENT
RESPONSE represents a way in which intervention interacts with public, what it generates or what is required for it. CONVIVIALITY - the pleasure of being toghether and sharing moments and things with others CRITIQUE - analytical review on how to change things and how to work towards a better outcome DIALOGUE - exchange of experiences ideas and knowledge for benefits of the whole society EXPLORATION - observation and exploration of new possibilities and uses of public areas HUMOR - reaction to commic narrative INCOME - generates finantial benefits for the community INTERACTIVITY - generates impulse to respond and with this responsive environment acts as a whole PARTICIPATION - networking professionals, stakeholders and citizens with stronger active role in shaping and co-creating their environment SENSORY TRIGGER - act of profound sensory reactions
Impressum Organizations participating in the project and Project Team Zagreb Society of Architects (Project Coordinator)
Kristina Careva, Olja Ivanović, Uršula Juvan, Martina Kapuđija, Matej Korlaet, Rene Lisac, Tomislav Soldo, Davorka Perić, Vesna Vrga Perović Cultural front Belgrade Dejan Ubović, Maja Popović, Daša Spasojević, Edin Omanović, Bojana Ljubišić, Aleksandra Đorđević, Miloš Milosavljević Public Room Sarajevo Mak Kapetanović, Marijana Kramarić, Ana Bušić, Emir Kapetanović, Ervin Prašljivić Public Room Skopje Aleksandar Velinovski, Goce Gligorov, Marija Novović Jovanovska, Natali Ristovska Split Society of Architects Frane Dumandžić, Dragan Žuvela, Maja Karačić, Karlo Kazinoti This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project’s budget is 235.000 €. EC contribution amounts 50% and the rest of the funding covered by project partners with the support of local donators and partners.
Supported by Republic of Croatia – Ministry of Culture, Republic of Croatia – City of Zagreb, Council of City District Trnje in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia – City of Split, City District Varoš in Split, Republic of Serbia – City of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia – Ministry of Culture and Information, City Municipality of Savski venac, Bosnia and Herzegovina – City of Sarajevo, City Municipality of Stari Grad, Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Arts, Republic of Macedonia – Ministry of Culture, City of Skopje – Municipality Center
Sponsored by Beton Lučko, Cemex, Croatia Osiguranje, Mapei, Bojorad Flik, Netherlands Embassy in Zagreb, Zavar, Feydom, Foja, Velident, Damiko, Barbakan, Navigators, Via Signal Project duration June 2012 – May 2014 www.cityacupuncture.org info@cityacupuncture.org © Zagreb Society of Architects, Zagreb, 05/2014 Publisher Zagreb Society of Architects, Trg bana J. Jelačića 3, Zagreb, Croatia For the Publisher Teo Budanko (President of ZSA) Editor-In-Chief Kristina Careva Editorial Board Kristina Careva, Olja Ivanović, Uršula Juvan, Martina Kapuđija, Rene Lisac, Davorka Perić, Vesna Vrga Perović, Dejan Ubović, Mak Kapetanović, Frane Dumandžić, Dragan Žuvela, Aleksandar Velinovski Visual Identity & Design minimum d.o.o. ISBN 978-953-95350-8-5 With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union We would also like to thank the lecturers who shared their knowledge and inspired participants
during the workshops Anne van der Zwaag, Antoni Maznevski, Ana Frangovska, Martin Panovski, Samuel Carvalho, Nina Mitranić, Nemanja Petrović, Hans Vermeulen, Mari Jaakonaho, Horst Hoertner, Tomislav Pletenac, Armina Pilav, Vesna Hercegovac Pašić, Nihad Kreševljaković, Stjepan Rosh, Delcho Delchev, Radosveta Kirov, Snježana Perojević, Frane Dumandžić, Nikola Bojić, Vjeran Piršić
To the jurors who provided qualitative feedback and helped in the selection of interventions
Ana Đeldum, Ognjenka Finns, Damir Gamulin, Ana Grgić, Suad Handanagic, Alen Harapin, Ivan Kučina, Damir Ljutić, Ivica Mitrović, Marta Naumovska Grnarova, Filimena Radonjanin, Dean Stubnja, Mari Jaakonaho, Nina Mitranić, Nemanja Petrović, Vesna Hercegovac Pašić, Stjepan Roš, Nikola Bojić, Martin Panovski
Contents Foreword...................................................................3 City Acupuncture Methodology........................... 4 City Acupuncture Workshops............................... 7
Skopje Debar maalo city quarter...................... 9 Belgrade Savamala city quarter......................19 Zagreb Savica-Trnje city quarter.................... 27 Sarajevo Bistrik city quarter............................37 Split Varoš city quarter.................................... 47
City Acupuncture Forum...................................... 57 Repository.............................................................. 67 Project Partners & Supporting Institutions................................. 147
Foreword
We started considering the City Acupuncture aiming to improve the quality of use and the convenience of public city spaces. By examining the existing strategies of developing public spaces, we have decided to apply Acupunctural principle, an approach which affects precisely chosen locations by comprehensive consideration but with small interventions. Good impulses gained in that spot spread further and reach larger urban areas, primarily through understanding and education of the community and local governments. In order to ensure success of Acupuncture process, space users need to be involved and participate from the very start: from the locations identification, through choosing intervention propositions, to implementation and active use. Providing high quality comprehensive spatial solutions also calls for interdisciplinary approach of collaboration and insights sharing. After we established these three basic principles – small and precise interventions, participative principle and interdisciplinarity, we reflected and realized that this methodology is starting to be employed in increasing number of contemporary urban environments. Within the framework of the homonymous EU project, which has given real impetus to the development of the City Acupuncture program, the methodology was tested in five cities – Skopje, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Split. Few hundreds of young people were directly involved in the activities that were carried out during the project and a number of interventions that improve the quality of urban life remained permanently in five cities neighborhoods. The project ended with City Acupuncture Forum, a regional
conference with accompanying international exhibition in Zagreb. Forum gathered associations, organizations, local government representatives and individuals interested in Acupuncture and similar methods for systematic improvement of urban life quality. This catalogue describes thus the methodology of City Acupuncture, presents five case studies of Acupuncture in different cities, points to other similar organization and methodology of improving the public spaces, and at the very end incorporates our collection of over 230 examples of small interventions, initiatives and efforts around the world coming either from the local authorities, civil associations or activists groups. We are happy to share our experiences and insights with you through this publication, and hope it will serve you as a source of inspiration and motivation for designing small interventions in the participative and interdisciplinary ways to sustainably and gradually improve our cities.
Kristina Careva, Rene Lisac & Vesna Vrga Perović for City Acupuncture team
3
City Acupuncture Methodology
Reader ∙ Lecturers ∙ Discussion Location Visits ∙ Creating Concepts
4
Discussion ∙ Critique ∙ Preparation Teamwork ∙ Refinement
Every city consists of two basic structures, the physical and the social one. The physical structure (its buildings, streets, squares, parks, etc.) defines its look, its spatial relationships and its functionality. This is the material framework for everyday life. A city can also be viewed through its social processes, movements, habits and memories – this is the social structure of an urban space. The quality of urban life and place identity is directly dependent on the ways and intensities these two structures are intertwined and connected. Locally, the social structure and its processes have reacted differently to the physical structure through an endless number of ways of using space, both positive and negative. The main premise of the CA methodology is a belief that one can efficiently improve the city life quality through small and precise interventions made in interdisciplinary discourse with participation of citizens, NGOs and local government. The CA methodology is usually implemented in the framework of interdisciplinary workshops with students and young professionals from different disciplines (such as architecture, anthropology, landscape architecture, art). From 2010, workshops were voluntary organized in Zagreb, either for city quarter or some area of specific use (hospital, student centre). The Zagreb CA team was also invited to contribute with a new perspective on the issue of Marjan park-forest in Split. In 2012, the CA became a 24 month project ( June 2012 – May 2014) designed in collaboration of 5 associations from 4 different countries of Southeast Europe with the aim to improve the quality of urban life by international cultural exchange.
Discussion ∙ Critique Public Opinion
Throughout our work we noticed that each workshop consists of three phases: 1st phase – Divergence / Analysis – the
participants are getting familiar with the site, through introductory lectures, site visits and discussions, forming interdisciplinary teams based on affinities and the type of intervention, its micro location, etc; 2nd phase – Convergence / Synthesis – presentation of a basic strategy and concepts, followed by work on actual intervention proposals; 3rd phase – Exhibition / Public presentation – the workshop ends with an exhibition and presentation of the proposals, along with a discussion and creation of digital exhibition online. The project was implemented by a consortium made out of the following organizations: Zagreb Society of Architects in the role of project coordinator with partners Public Room Sarajevo, Public Room Skopje, Cultural Front Belgrade and Split Society of Architects in the role of associate partner. Project was approved for financing by the European Commission under the Culture Programme 2007-2013 in June 2012. Project was implemented in five cities: Skopje, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Split, the cities with the common historical and physical heritage which require similar interventions in their structure. Team in each participating city organized an interdisciplinary and international workshop along with mapping before and implementation of workshop results later. The interventions were done through necessary coordi-
nation between the participants and the local neighbourhood capacities. The project provided for the implementation of up to five individual interventions obtained at each workshop and evaluation of their impact on urban life. Results of the project are also documentation of methodology and interventions in this catalog and online directory of small interventions, which are collected throughout the project. At the end of the project we organized a regional Forum that brings together participants, representatives of local governments of involved cities, associations and organizations dealing with spatial issues, and experts in urban development. Forum presents both the results of this EU project, and other similar methods used in European cities to systematically improve the quality of urban life. It is especially important to emphasize that this project promotes the value of interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue, the active participation of citizens, NGOs and local governments in consideration of public space, and encourages the involvement of young people in the community. Acupuncture – from an idea to the realization Experiences gained in realization of specific small urban interventions in five cities participating in the project City Acupuncture showed significant differences in the variety of sociospatial structures, relationships, problems and potentials of selected urban districts up to the wider social and professional contexts and the political and administrative framework. Participatory and socially sensitive methodology of city acupuncture not only resulted in precisely appropriate interventions, but also the process of their implementation intensely “lived the life” of the individual context. The project has encountered great approval and encouragement by the inhabitants of all the cities, its appearance within the common urban practices of large interventions and ideas, very distant from the real needs of the individual, was recognized as a refreshing, not burdening and very human approach.But the closest match between the workshop proposals and the desires and motivation of the residents was created during the workshop in Split, where the Mediterranean social capital and residents’ con-
Participative
Concept
Interdisciplinary
Proposal
Innovative
Local Action
Implementation Process
Small & Feasible
I n t e rv e n t i o n St r u c t u r e
nection with their own public space and identity 5 was probably the strongest. As a vivid example is the Intervention idea “Smojin teatar (Smoje’s Theater)” in Split’s district Varoš, inspired by the proposal during the workshop, that came to public life among residents and civil sector organizations in form of series of performances even before anything was done on location. Consequently, project was project well received and supported in Split by the city administration and services, which are the key factors of successful implementation, since it is all about the public space, land property and interests of the city. However, there is a great potential in all the cities, for recognition and understanding of methodologies of small interventions to be widespread through the administration and management structures. At the local level of city district government, the project was generally supported, while at higher city level this support was usually missing (Zagreb), while in some cases acted even repressive towards efforts of interventions implementation (Skopje, Sarajevo and Belgrade). The experience of this project has shown that early involvement of the residents and the city in the process is crucial for their active participation and successful implementation of acupuncture interventions. The organization and efficiency of the implementation was also very different in the cities, from individuals who independently implemented interventions to highly coordinated teams, but without the sincere motivation and a great contribution from volunteers, the results obtained in the given financial framework of the project would not have been possible.
City Acupuncture Workshops
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Skopje (Debar maalo City Quarter)
5 – 9 September 2012 Debar Maalo
Period Focus
The presented district, expends on over 45 ha of land. The workshop will cover over 50% of the district land – 24 ha. The nearest point to the Skopje City Center Square is 300 m Debar maalo is positioned in the strict core of the city. Few of the city main streets, are its borders and it had played a significant role in the development on the city of Skopje. The district is surrounded by the city’s main traffic circulation: Partizanski Odredi Bul., Kliment Ohridski Bul., Ilinden Ave. and Franklin Roosevelt St. Its structure contains: residential housing, faculties, the City library, a primary school, a bazaar and a lot of café and lunch bars.
Lecturers Anne van der Zwaag, Antoni Maznevski, Ana Frangovska, Martin Panovski
The district was born 100 years ago, with the implementation of the first urban concept for Skopje in 1912. The first house was built in 1918. The urban design is organic matrix; wich was redefined in the further development and growth of the city. Debar Maalo contains the genesis of the past and the present, it had been and it still is developing in the City’s core. It is a ground of multi social groups living on the same place. District where a lot of local businesses are stationed mixed up with the residential housing. In over 250 buildings and over 3.600 families, the area has the population of 16.000 residents, with different age participation. Over 10.000 people use this area. There are few city and country authorities, few organizations (Public Room Promo Center included) that are positioned on the area.
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Team Krigle Dijana Dimitrijevska (Skopje), Danica Spasevska Alen Spahić (Belgrade), Iva Galevska (Skopje), Nevena Milašinović (Sarajevo), Sandra Maglov (Zagreb) Mentors Martina Kapuđija (Zagreb), Mak Kapetanović Participants
(Skopje),
(Sarajevo)
Giant’s Walk (p.13), Open Fences (p.13)
Projects 1 3
2
1
Benching (p.13),
Team Trolovi Vanja Lazić (Sarajevo), Monika Petrov (Skopje), Elmedina Ramadani (Skopje), Sandra Ugrinoska (Skopje), Nataša Vchkova (Skopje), Frane Dumandžić (Split) Mentor Dragan Žuvela (Split) Project 4 Pause (p.13), 5 Play (p.14), 6 Go (p.14) Participants
10
Team Grupa
5
3
Tamara Georgievska (Skopje), Pavel Veljanoski Snežana Mihajlovska (Belgrade), Nina Stipančević (Split), Jasmina Aleksova (Skopje), Aneta Trajanović (Skopje) mentor Maja Popović (Belgrade) Project 7 Oasis (p.14), 8 Bashta (p.14), 9 Playground (p.15) Participants
(Skopje),
9
Team Designchicks Klelija Zivković (Skopje), Anastasija Spasovska Iskra Filipova (Skopje), Jelena Tomić (Split), Andrea Cvetovska (Skopje), Biljana Ševo (Belgrade) Mentors Rene Lisac (Zagreb), Dejan Ubović (Belgrade) Projects 10 Kapidžik (p.15), 11 Tubes (p.15) Participants
13
(Skopje),
team Jaguari Elena Ristoska (Skopje), Viktorija Bogdanova Ana Bušić (Sarajevo), Ana Raguž (Zagreb), Daniel Dimovski (Skopje), Mišo Komenda (Split) mentors Karlo Kazinoti (Split), Goce Gligorov (Skopje) Projects 12 Stop Movie Theatre (p.15), 13 Freedom to Lounging About in the Grass (p.16), 14 Green Pavilion (p.16) Participants
(Skopje),
On the following pages the continuous line above the intervention title represents implemented projects, and the dashed line represents projects that remained concepts.
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2
3
4
6
7
8
11 10
11
12
2 9 13 8 2 10 11
8
7
12
4
14 3 10 11
2
5 10 11 9 6
Vertical Garden landmark, re-do furniture, gardening conviviality authors Tamara Georgievska (Skopje), Marta Naumovska Grnarova (Skopje)
The aim of this intervention is to provide a place for rest and socialization in the busy city centre. Located in a dead-end street which borders with the main boulevard, previously used only for parking discarded vehicles and where dirt has been accumulating over time, Vertical Garden becomes a new social, aesthetically attractive meeting point in Debar Maalo. 12
Sidewalk social author
painting
sensory trigger
Natali Ristovska (Skopje)
The main concern of Sidewalk installation is pupils’ safety. Installations are placed in front of three schoolyards. Due to the strict traffic regulations, the installations can not be placed on the streets, so the author creates visible markings on the sidewalks.
Stapalki (Krigle) social
installation
critique
Stapalki (footsteps) are positioned on three different locations on the sidewalks in Debar maalo. Made of stainless steel, they aim at raising awareness among pedestrians that they should walk on the sidewalks. Also, installations are a message to the management of local bars and restaurants not to occupy the sidewalks.
1
Giant’s Walk (Krigle) social technology participation, critique
Smartphone application for urban guerilla; it records natural movement of population in the neighborhood, which is now crammed with cars. The aim is to create a map of paths and a manifesto for local government demanding pedestrian zones. It also envisages a number of urban actions and realizations in physical space. 2
Benching (Krigle) landmark furniture conviviality
Prefabricated urban equipment opens the topic of empty, run-down facades. Folding chairs are mounted onto facades in selected corners of the neighborhood, in order to intensify the usage of these spaces. Another part of the intervention is to paint the floor around the chairs in order to provide the space with new identity. 3
Open Fences (Krigle) landmark
installation
critique
Proposed intervention is located in the yard of the Faculty of Architecture. It is an unused open space with green area. Interventions like hanging hammocks and placing staircase benches in vivid colors will make this yard a beautiful place for students to study, hang out, be creative and it will inspire better ideas. Temporary installation of a ''pedestrian crossing'' across the fence suggests opening of the park to community as an open space living room.
4
Pause (Trolovi) functional
construction
conviviality
Debar Maalo is an environment which lacks places for rest. Carefully designed elements form urban equipment which can be placed in different locations and can provide nonexistent/missing contents in the borough (benches, tables, chairs, stands, stage). The first intervention, of semi-private character, has been proposed for a dilapidated garden used by a number of inhabitants. Greenery would be left in one part, and the other would be furnished for multifunctional usage.
13
5
Play (Trolovi) landmark, functional construction conviviality
The other intervention, of public character, has been proposed for a triangular widening of a street where an urban lounge with seating space is set up.
6
Go (Trolovi) landmark, functional furniture conviviality
14
The third intervention of intense character has been suggested near a bus stop. The strip of wooden bars meanders through the space creating a place for rest and waiting.
7
Oasis (Grupa 3) landmark, functional furniture conviviality
This work deals with horticultural design for a roundabout to provide it with new alternative purposes. Oaza (the Oasis) is located near the City Park, it is a nice place where a small intervention enables people to enjoy the surroundings and encourages the culture of using green areas.
8
Bashta (Grupa 3) re-do furniture, gardening conviviality, participation
Creation of urban equipment made of recycled material (tubes) for several locations in Đuro Đaković Street gives identity to the street and creates contents for the citizens. The work also envisages installation of the tubes as low lighting elements along the street. Bashta is one of the locations chosen from a number of proposed locations.
9
Playground (Grupa 3) re-do, ludic conviviality
sculpture
Two interventions are located on two different corners of the Debar maalo district, currently used as parking places. The aim is to provide a playground for children outside the kindergarten which is just across the street, using recycled cardboard tubes. It also provides a place for recreation and entertainment for adults. 10
Kapid탑ik (Designchicks) functional, social
sculpture
dialogue
Traditional custom in Debar Malo, Kapid탑ik, is linking of neighboring yards by doors to allow exchange of kitchen supplies as well as small talk. Separated backyards of the Faculty of Architecture and Library have inspired the authors of this intervention to a contemporary interpretation of Kapid탑ik, in this instance on a public level. The intervention proposes a number of frameworks whose design contains urban sitting equipment and boards for writing, leaving notes, thoughts and comments.
11
Tubes (Designchicks) ludic construction conviviality
This work suggests three modules (A,B and C) which can easily be combined (AB, BB, AC, ...) allowing spatial variations for specific locations. Different typologies thus derived are suitable both for open and for closed space, and they serve to reclaim the street from parking and to achieve new, safe territory for children's play. 12
Stop Movie Theatre ( Jaguari)
ludic, re-do conviviality
installation
Parking spaces that are empty in the evenings have inspired authors to redesign fold-down parking posts into chairs. This orderly but desolate street is given new furniture which provides the opportunities of evening stay, seating and street movie projections.
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13
Freedom to Lounging About in the Grass ( Jaguari) landmark
furniture
critique
Artificial grass sitting modules are introduced into green areas in a quest to demystify grass as a forbidden place to sit on, as well as in order to repopulate severely fragmented urban greenery.
14
Green Pavilion ( Jaguari)
re-do, social construction conviviality, dialogue
16
Conversion of an old glass greenhouse into a multifunctional pavilion which aims at attracting students back into the unused green area around the building of Faculty of Architecture.
About Skopje
Interventions
From September 2012 till April 2013 the organization Public In April 2013 all project proposals for Room was trying to solve the administrative puzzle needed local interventions were closely elabto commence with the implementation of the proposed orated by the authorities of municiinstallations. Two people in charge for coordination of the pality Center and project coordinators. installations in the public spaces were working full time to It was concluded that the proposed obtain all necessary documents / licenses. In that period locations where the suggested interthe coordinators were actively communicating with the ventions were supposed to be placed construction companies, participants from the workshop are not corresponding with the sitand making all necessary changes that the department for uation on the ground. Six out of six urbanism in the municipality Center has requested. The com- locations happened to either have munication on all sides was going smooth besides the dispute with the private owners (denacommunication with the municipality of Center which was tionalization process of properties in frequently delayed. The project coordinators were stacked in Macedonia goes from year 2000 and is the administrative burden getting different and ambiguous still not finished), or the city urban plan answers of what is possible to be realized and what is not. projects another type of architecture on those locations. The officials in the In March 2013 local elections took place and new estab- municipality Center have requested lishment in the municipality Center was set up. The new change of locations and change of mayor who came officially in power in June 2013 was imme- proposed interventions. This process diately introduced the idea for the project City Acupuncture took 2 months till potential locations and all prior obstacles in communication with the persons in were detected and were inspected that charge were explained. From June 2013 till April 2014 munic- no barriers (administrative, urban or ipality Center actively communicates with the local project juridical) are attached to them. coordinators and offers support on all levels.
Local project coordinators have approached group 4 from the workshop in Skopje and asked them to alter their original project idea and to level it to the actual possibilities and needs so it will correspond to the location and desired effect. This situation derived the intervention “STAPALKI” (footsteps) which was installed in July 2013. This was very encouraging moment for the local project coordinators, local authorities and participants in the project City Acupuncture. The footsteps different in size and shape are all made of stainless steel and are installed on 3 different locations in Debar Maalo. The management of Public Room has decided in July 2013 to use the momentum of cooperative attitude of the municipality Center and proposed new interventions in close communication with the local authorities. As a product of dozens of meetings and draft proposals 2 new interventions were approved by the municipality of Center. For these 2 clearly designated locations local project coordinators approached 3 designers and gave them opportunity to propose installations which were realized. In September 2013 the project “Vertical Garden” was installed, followed by the third installation “Trotoar” In March 2014. Overall cooperation with construction companies was going smooth. The companies engaged had understanding for the entire project and were aware of the effect of the same, they gave their utmost to provide best services and materials. Support from the European Union, Ministry of Culture local government and private companies, was also communicated in the outside communication. Local and national media has paid attention to the entire project and published the information about all interventions realized. Effects on local community from realized interventions are numerous. All realized installations are very well accepted by the local citizens, media and authorities. The installation “STAPALKI” was greeted by many pedestrians that have been interviewed after the realization. These are mainly local inhabitants that were first to spot the installations. The management of the local bars and restaurants has greeted the installations as effective, beautiful and useful. “Vertical Garden” in a short time has become hot spot for the local citizens and pedestrians in the center of the city. Local population sees it as a pleasant and very chick place to have a rest and to socialize calling this spot as “our place” only after 2 months time. This installation has been presented many times in public debates,
architectural workshops and conferences of how Skopje as city should be seen in the future. Authorities of the schools where the installations “Trotoar” were installed expressed gratitude. The kids see the installation as a new safe playground. The parents of the kids are happy that their kids even though hanging in front to school yards are safe in terms of vehicles. Municipality of Center has grasped the idea of the project City Acupuncture thoroughly. When the second installation “Vertical Garden” was installed local people started immediately using this place as a meeting point. After few weeks the authorities of the municipality Center installed garbage bin and metal barriers for cars as additional equipment. Garbage bin was necessary due to high frequency of people and metal barriers were installed because the cars used to park very close to the “Vertical Garden” not leaving any space for pedestrians. This is one of the facts that project City Acupuncture has effect on the local authorities. Company that was participating in realization of the installation “Trotoar” put this installation in their company’s catalogue and promised that the same will be shared to other primary schools. Company that was producing the stainless steel footsteps for installation “STAPALKI” has proudly put them on their website. Company that delivered the grass and herbs for the vertical garden has presented the similar installation on the furniture fair in March 2014 in Skopje. The same company has contacted both authors offering them cooperation for similar projects. The organizer believes that the sincere effect of the realized public interventions is yet to come. Organizers predict that in the year 2014 and 2015 there will be new initiatives in the city of Skopje. Local authorities that were actively involved in the project are aware of the effect the installations have on the local population. The international prominence is additional motivation for them to continue with such projects on the local and national level.
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Belgrade (Savamala City Quarter)
15 –19 October 2012 Savamala
Period Focus
Savamala, the oldest urban part of Belgrade, changed in the course of its 150 years history from a lively and scenic rivertront to a neglected area, characterized by heavy traffic and disconnected from both the city centre and the river. Its current marginalisation and dilapitation is in strong contrast with the location and its potential. Savamala has significant history but it lacks a clear vision for its future. Savamala occupies one of the most beautiful and strategically important areas of the city. It is located south of the historic Kalemegdan Fortress on the South of the river Sava. Its northern section belongs to the municipality of Stari Grad, while its central and southern sections belong to the municipality of Savski Venac. The central street in the neighbourhood is Karadjordjeva. The area was the first new settlement constructed outside the fortress walls of Kalemegdan which dates back to the period of the Ottoman rule. Construction began in the 1883s as ordered by the prince of Serbia, Milos Obrenovic, who planned to build a Serbian settlement outside the fortress and the Turkish settlement. The area was originally a bog called Cigaska bara (Gypsy pool), but the name was later changed (and still survives as such) to Bara Venecija (Venice pool). The pool was drained, becoming a neighbourhood of its own and Savamala grew around it. The area itself, gets its name from its location, the name of the Sava river. and from the term mahala, a Balkan word for neighbourhood or quarter, which dates back to the period of the Ottoman rule.
Lecturers Maja Popović, Samuel Carvalho, Nina Mitranić, Nemanja Petrović, Hans Vermeulen
Savamala developed its trading potential also due to its geographic position. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century it grew to become the mayor trading centre in Belgrade. The area always had diverse social composition, characterised by different social classes and cultures. Inhabited by sailors, the elite, craftsmen, fishermen, wealthy merchants and marginal groups of people. Savamala developed its diverse character that is still visible today. At the end of the 19th century, the city modernized rapidly and Savamala. particularly the Karadjordjeva Street, became the site for major building projects, considered to be of great cultural and historical significance. In the course of the twentieth century various economic, political and urban forces seem to have led to the decline of Savamala. This resulted in the area as we see it today where splendid but neglected architectural remnants of a graal historical past stand side by side to old warehouses, decaying residential buildings and informal workshops. The Karadjordjeva Street is poorly maintained, many buildings were abandoned. Although some of the individual buildings are under the preservation of the Cultural Heritage Protection Institute, the area, as a whole, is not protected, neither is a subject of the protection plan at the moment. Savamala also hosts major city infrastructure, a bus terminal and parking lots, a main traffic zone used by heavy trucks, and the headquarters of the water police. The riverfront, once a busy landing, is now used as a cemetery for abandoned hulks.
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Team The
Ghost People
Participants Željko Radišić (Zagreb), Ines Zangl (Split), Barbara Ismailović (Belgrade), Miroslava Mitić (Belgrade), Tijana Tripković (Belgrade), Divna Vojinović (Belgrade) mentors Kristina Careva (Zagreb), Asmir Šabić (Sarajevo) Projects 1 Ghost People of Savamala (p.22), 2 Old Carriages, New Chances (p.22), 3 Pedestrian Crossing, Please! (p.23), 4 Pirotski ćilim (p.23), 5 Reclaim the Spaces (p.24),
TEAM Tim
1
Participants Ivana Lučić (Zagreb), Kaja Šprljan Bušić (Zagreb), Ismet Lisica (Sarajevo), Daša Spasojević (Belgrade), Đorđe Aralica (Belgrade), Predrag Milić (Belgrade) mentors Maja Popović (Belgrade), Dragan Žuvela (Split) Project 6 New Street (p.24)
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Team Grupa
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Marko Gavrilović (Belgrade), Ognjen Jokić (Sarajevo), Ana Lazović (Belgrade), Leposava MiloševićSibinović (Belgrade), Klelija Živković (Skopje) mentors Olja Ivanović (Zagreb), Edin Omanović (Belgrade) Projects 7 New Youth (p.24), 8 New Garden (p.24) Participants
Team Skalamala Participants Mirna Balta (Split), Barbara Dimic (Belgrade), Nevena Nikolić (Sarajevo), Aleksandra Petkovic (Belgrade), Aleksandar Slivnjak (Belgrade), Pavel Veljanoski (Skopje) mentors Lidija Lovrinović (Belgrade), Dejan Ubović (Belgrade) Project 9 Savamala Stairs (p.25)
Team G4 Milan Cvetković (Belgrade), Luka Cvitan (Split), Jelena Đerić (Belgrade), Vladimir Kovač (Belgrade), Biljana Ševo (Belgrade), Sandra Ugrinoska (Skopje) mentors Goce Gligorov (Skopje), Ervin Prašljivić (Sarajevo) Participants
On the following pages the continuous line above the intervention title represents implemented projects, and the dashed line represents projects that remained concepts.
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Ghost People of Savamala
(The Ghost People)
esthetic, social critique
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painting
Ghost People of Savamala (good ghosts of Savamala) symbolically represent personifications of problems of living in Savamala. Our first Ghost should point out that Savamala perimeter bordering with the Sava River should have better cohesion with the river. That is why he is holding a little boat in his hand. Our Ghost people are maximally stylized, and the colors are reduced to black and white, with accents pointing to the problems. The humoristic tone of a Ghost provides a positive note, and its character freshens up the gloomy and deserted walls. The second Ghost is a granny who knits, because next to the port in Savamala, there are old ladies who sell their handiwork and who are constantly being forced away. The third Ghost is a ghost of a guy crazy about nightlife. He is holding a circle in his hand, reflecting the name of the club next to which he stands! We also have a kind ghost of a bullterrier, because dogs too need to have their place in Savamala. The last Ghost is in immediate proximity to the Mixer House, and it represents the need for green surfaces in this neighborhood where people could relax and isolate themselves from heavy traffic. That is why the ghost is squeezed into a small passageway.
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Old Carriages, New Chances
(The Ghost People)
re-do, social participation
construction
This intervention uses old railway tracks and abandoned carriages in order to provide spaces which would improve the manner of performing current activities on the Sava river banks (fishing, selling and relaxation).
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Pedestrian Crossing, Please! (The Ghost People)
re-do, functional painting, furniture
critique
Due to the lack of a ring road around Savamala, there is heavy traffic which creates problems of pollution, noise and pedestrian safety. This work tries to answer a security aspect by proposing hyper-dimensioned pedestrian crossing in front of the KC Grad (Cultural Centre Grad), one of the cultural institutions which have lately been attempting to reinstate the social aspect into the neighborhood. On the part of the sidewalk in front of the KC Grad, the zebra crossing stripes are elevated into the third dimension, forming benches and bike stands.
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Pirotski ćilim
(The Ghost People)
esthetic painting sensory trigger, humor The idea of the “Pirotski cilim” intervention was to repair and ennoble the stairways near Manako’s house (Manakova kuća) which is the small museum of Serbian cultural heritage. At the same time, this old stairway is one of the very rare and tiny corridors from the city center and river front.
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Reclaim the Spaces (The Ghost People)
re-do
installation, gardening
critique
This work is an attempt to encourage reclaiming the spaces intended for high-quality urban socializing but currently filled with street traffic. In the central area of one of the busy crossings, now used as illegal parking space, the authors propose permanently placing a non-functioning car. Plants resistant to heavy air pollution would be planted inside the car.
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New Street (Tim 1) re-do, landmark
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installation
exploration
This group identified the challenge that there is complete separation and blockage between streets and the river promenade, except for one rather inaccessible approach to the river and the river zone. In the last several years the number of people who were “descending� into this part of the city adjoining the river enormously increased, but there was just not a single accessible channel to the river. The group noticed one very particular passageway between two houses/storages which connects the street with the railway and further on with the river promenade. 7
New Youth (Grupa 3) social installation, technology critique, sensory trigger
This discrete and symbolic intervention tends to deliver a message and enhance communication between the residents of Savamala and their government. The chosen spot, which can be regarded as somewhat a pedestrian entrance to the Savamala district, points out that Savamala has the potential to be a place where something new can happen, and that this has already started. The light can be used as a permanent light sign or a temporary light.
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New Garden (Grupa 3)
re-do painting, event exploration, dialogue This proposal aims to show how a new garden in the street would look like. The chosen place is where used to stand the oldest house in Belgrade. Intervention consists of fence painting and projection.
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Savamala Stairs (Skalamala) re-do
construction, furniture
exploration
The group has noticed that the main pedestrian paths leading to Savamala are actually stairways. Some of them are in rather run-down condition. The idea of the group is to revive these ‘‘pedestrian corridors’’ by restoring and embellishing them. The one that is called ‘‘Artistic’’ is just next to the Faculty of Applied Arts, and the other ‘‘Craftsmen’s’’ leads to the market Zeleni venac (Green Crescent), and passes in front of small workshops.
About Belgrade
Interventions
Savamala, the oldest urban part of Belgrade, that changed its face from the picturesque river front to the neglected region that is characterized by pollution caused by traffic and separation from both the river and the city center, during the last 150 years, was chosen for the interventions’ location as a result of design proposals that emerged during the five-day workshop in Belgrade. Participants noted the great potential for developing a clear vision for the future of this Belgrade district mostly because of its marginalization and degradation. The first implemented intervention, of all the selected proposals created during the interdisciplinary workshop in Belgrade, named “The Good Spirits of Savamala” symbolically represents the personification of living issues in Savamala. The authors of the first acupuncture proposal are a group of artists – Studio Kriška. The first spirit is pointing out that the rim of Savamala, bordering the Sava river, should have a greater connection with the river itself. That is why this spirit holds a boat in its hand. All the spirits are styled up to its maximum and their colors are reduced to black and white, with accents that indicate the problems. Humorous tone of the spirits give a positive note, and their characters refresh the gloomy and deserted walls. The second spirit is a granny who knits because at the harbor in Savamala there are numerous grandmothers on the street who sell their handicrafts and are constantly being chased. The Third Spirit is a night-life-crazy character. He is holding a circle because of the name of the club of whose doors he is positioned next to! You can also find a good-natured spirit of a bull terrier there, because puppies as well need to find their place
in Savamala. The last spirit is near Mikser House and represents a need green spaces where people can relax and isolate themselves from the heavy traffic in this neighborhood. Therefore, this spirit is confined and positioned in a small alley. In this entire story, probably the most interesting detail is that after all the time that passed after this intervention execution and although it visualy resembles a street intervetion a lot, being placed on walls, all the spirits remain being completely untouched by all other potential artists. This just shows how strong the social message of the Spirits of Savamala intervention is. Also, it is interesting that this intervention has prompted other subjects in the street to engage in a similar way, thus granting the spirits company very soon after the intervetion execution. The next intervention, implemented in Belgrade, is the zebra pedestrian in Brace Krsmanovic Street, just in front of the cultural city center. In cooperation with the Savski Venac municipality, and private companies that have supported the project this design proposal was implemented and came to an enormous approval Savamala residents and especially visitors to the Cultural center only couple of days afterwards. This practically was the first (un)official pedestrian crossing towards the river. However, lacking the understanding, the Secretariat of Transportation of the City of Belgrade ordered the removal of oversized zebra and entered the process of the traffic flow measuring, and in accordance with the completion of infrastructure works (bridge over the Danube in Zemun, end of 2014th) reached the decision of entering into the implementation of the proposed solutions. This act showed the true acupuncture value of this project.
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Zagreb (Savica – Trnje city quarter)
24 – 28 February 2013 Savica
Period Focus
The city district Trnje is an unusual combination of infrastructural negligence and the largest of Zagreb’s infrastructural projects of the 20th century. Former village and city suburbs, today it is in geographical centre of Zagreb. Trnje shows dominant urban development pattern in the direction east – west and negligence in the direction north – south. Such dominance is historically based in two natural boundaries which prevented extension of Zagreb towards north and south, and these were Medvednica Mountain and the Sava River. Today, there are three strong parallels regulating the area in the direction east-west (Vukovarska street, Slavonska avenue, the Sava River course) and they dominate every Trnje map and confirm the impression of a linear city. Trnje is an unfinished area, due to its size it is difficult fully envisage it and offer a unique suggestion of its spatial future. However, it is exactly this unfinishedness that makes Trnje an extremely potent and vital area. Official data of the City of Zagreb say that Trnje is the second smallest of Zagreb’s city districts (736 ha), which comprises 13 city district councils. Original Trnje is called ‘’Staro Trnje’’ (Old Trnje) today, and it is mostly characterized by low detached houses with private plots and gardens. City Acupuncture workshop in Zagreb covers three Trnje city district councils: Cvjetno naselje, Staro Trnje and Trnjanska Savica.
Lecturers Mari Jaakonaho, Horst Hoertner, Tomislav Pletenac, Tomislav Soldo, Davorka Perić
The City Acupuncture workshop will examine the area that does not encompass the whole city district of Trnje, but the district of Savica and a narrow strip parallel to the dyke and banks of the Sava River. The Staro Trnje area is not included in the scope of the workshop due to its structure which has no public spaces today, but consists of private houses and agricultural fields. This area is subject to larger transformations which would erase interventions on a smaller scale such as the ones promoted by City Acupuncture. As opposed to that, Savica zone is a part of the district that is defined in terms of the urban planning, and it contains numerous spaces which need additional articulation, usage and revitalization, and are therefore suitable for small interventions which will stimulate new modes of usage of the spaces and can also suggest numerous potential larger interventions. Stretch next to the Sava is interesting as an intense zone of usage, which is co-related with the district but also with the whole city. Scope has been extended towards west – on the other side of the bridge (Most Slobode) – and on the neighbouring local committee because there are numerous associations active in this area and operating on the city level, having a capacity to intensify the usage of public spaces (Močvara, Pogon, Veslački klub).
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Team 7plus Leila Dizdarević (Sarajevo), Alma Hudović Dejan Mitov (Belgrade), Sanja Benaković (Zagreb), Lea Horvat (Zagreb), Lana Trobentar (Zagreb), Petra Zaninović Participants
(Sarajevo), (Zagreb)
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Edin Omanović (Belgrade), Natali Ristovska (Skopje) Projects 1 InOut (p.30), 2 OTW – On The Way (p.30), 3 StopBy (p.31) mentori
Team Vrapčići Snežana Ćuruvija (Belgrade), Tamara Georgijevska (Skopje), Valentina Benčić (Zagreb), Karmen Krasić Kožul (Zagreb), Luka Krstulović (Zagreb), Jelena Tomić Participants
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(Zagreb)
Maja Karačić (Split), Matej Korlaet (Zagreb) Dynamo I love (p.31), 5 Pimp My Štanga (p.32), Give me a Name (p.32)
Mentors
Projects 4 6
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Team Meso
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Lana Barač (Sarajevo), Diana Dimitrijevska (Skopje), Jovana Miletić (Belgrade), Luka Cindrić (Zagreb), Larisa Čišić (Zagreb), Vilma Stopfer (Zagreb) Mentors Daša Spasojević (Belgrade), Aleksandar Velinovski Participants
(Skopje) Projects 7
PulseSavica (p.32),
Team GTI
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The Cube (p.33)
(Grupa traži ime)
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Emir Kapetanović (Sarajevo), Andrea Pavlović Anna Koscis (Zagreb), Nikolina Krešo (Zagreb), Sandra
Participants
(Split),
Perić (Zagreb) mentors Mak Kapetanović (Sarajevo), Kata Marunica (Zagreb) Projects 9 Would You Like a Square? (p.33), 10 Green Axis of Trnje (p.33)
Team 3od5 Participants Marko Borota (Split), Monika Petrov (Skopje), Lea Anić (Zagreb), Julijana Bočkaj (Zagreb), Tatjana Petric (Zagreb), Petra Sapun (Zagreb), Ivana Stanić (Zagreb) Mentors Frane Dumandžić (Split), Marijana Kramarić (Sarajevo) Projects 11 A module Plateau (p.34), 12 B Module Embankment (p.34), 13 C module Park (p.34)
On the following pages the continuous line above the intervention title represents implemented projects, and the dashed line represents projects that remained concepts.
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InOut (7plus) esthetic
painting
dialogue
The pedestrian underpass on the northern border of Savica, the main pedestrian entrance and exit of the borough, is accentuated by yellow color and transformed from a dark passage into a visual marker and communication point. The intervention consists of painting the ceiling and wall surfaces, performed voluntarily by the City Acupuncture team in cooperation with (local) street artists who will continue to paint the underpass over time, echoing motifs from the life of the neighborhood and its residents.
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OTW – On The Way (7plus)
esthetic painting sensory trigger, humor The central pedestrian bridge in the neighborhood that connects two building plateaus (also typical for this neighborhood) is embellished using similar visual language as the In Out underpass: accentuated by yellow color which introduces the idea of potential new visual identity of the neighborhood. Implementation of the intervention included voluntary action of painting the bridge and the action of local graffiti artists who, inspired by growth and branching, painted the four pillars of the bridge. With this intervention everyday crossing of the bridge turned into a new and more cheerful experience, differentiated from the gray concrete that the residents, in their own words, are not immune to.
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StopBy (7plus) landmark, cultural construction conviviality
The area below a bridge is transformed from an unused and neglected space into a multifunctional space for sports and recreation on the one hand, and cultural contents on the other, thus generating a new gathering place for all users and passers-by on the Sava embankment. Realization included building reinforced concrete stands that follow the slope of the embankment and focus the attention to the stage and canvas stretched between the supporting pillars of the bridge. The authors’ intent was to provide for different programs on the new platform, engaging neighborhood associations and clubs and thus facilitating the creation of a new identity and encouraging future interventions on this part of the embankment.
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Dynamo I love (Vrapčići)
landmark sculpture, technology sensory trigger, participation, interactivity
Although the Sava embankment is inextricably linked to the identity of this old Zagreb neighborhood, this space is neglected, dark and one of its greatest problems. The aim of the intervention is to light up a part of the embankment while using sports and recreation. The realization included mounting three fixed inox bikes of different sizes, one lamp and two benches. This interactive installation gives citizens the possibility to produce electricity for public lighting by driving the bikes. This intervention perhaps best describes the aim of the entire City Acupuncture project – using our own efforts and small interventions to produce a new attractor in public space which encourages public use and further development through new initiatives.
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Pimp My Štanga (Vrapčići)
re-do, social painting, installation participation, dialogue The carpet beating racks (Croatian colloquialism: klofer štange), typical in this neighborhood, are used to respond to the residents’ needs for meeting, exchange of information and expression of creativity. Numerous beating racks, which only occasionally serve their original purpose, were redesigned as exhibition and advertising space intended to serve schools, associations and artistic communities. After the action of painting, in which the students and teachers of the local elementary school were actively involved, waterproof fabric panels equipped with metal rivets for setting up exhibitions and advertising were placed onto the racks. Background photos on boards show the old neighborhood. Using distinctive urban equipment, this intervention created a new meeting places in the neighborhood.
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Give me a Name (Vrapčići) landmark, social
construction
participation
The project is a result of the search for mutual basis for dealing with several different needs and opportunities stressed by the inhabitants and interested organizations as a link between space usage and life quality on Trnje’s Savica. The proposed wooden corridor is placed on a plateau waiting to be named and functions as a communication tool providing synergy of programs and activities to citizens and organizations.
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PulseSavica (Meso) re-do furniture exploration, conviviality
Since this borough has no suitable place for inhabitants’ socializing, this project tried to offer such a place beneath a pedestrian ramp next to a lawn where children play football. This intervention encourages neighbors to build their own space; a new place to sit, play, create…
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The Cube (Meso) re-do, ludic construction, painting conviviality
“Kockica” is neighborhood name for former concrete flower boxes located on the northern edge of the borough, on a plateau currently used for parking, surrounded by multi-storey residential buildings. The authors of these interventions identified that it should serve as a space for children’s play, and decided to articulate this idea. The project consists of two rectangular parts of which the smaller one is intended for free play of younger children, while the bigger one is reserved primarily for a small football field. Construction work included the consolidation of the peripheral low wall, the construction of new cement substrates and placement of wooden benches on one part of the wall. The benches are divided into several segments suggesting a variety of possible usages. With this intervention, not only that children’s existing space for playing was arranged, but also many new games were drawn on the ground. Because it penetrated into the parking space, the intervention drew attention to the necessity of considering an open space in the neighborhood for children to play. 9
Would You Like a Square? (GTI) social
installation, event
dialogue
The intervention on the parking lot by the market was driven by the inhabitants’ observations that the neighborhood lacks a compact and articulated space for socializing, a center or a neighborhood square. Since the implementation of the square exceeds the capacity of the project, the intervention consists of launching the initiative “Would you like a square?”. A large poster with the visualization of square’s possible layout, creates interaction with the inhabitants who can respond online. one-day temporary traffic relief action took place with numerous events, creating the potential simulation of life on the square. 10
Green Axis of Trnje (GTI) landmark
painting
exploration
This intervention tries to connect the central part of the borough, the marketplace, with its southern border, the Sava embankment, over pedestrian plateaus stretching in the direction North-South and actually representing the central axis of the borough. It proposes a green linear stretch made of quartz sand, 150 cm wide, indicating movement and containing textual information.
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A module Plateau (3od5) re-do, ludic
installation
conviviality
In an attempt to emphasize the qualities of the Savica area, the authors of this project used children’s play structure as a starting point and decided to renovate it, and further on, through creative interpretation to devise new urban equipment for inhabitants of Trnje and other users. Proposal of renovation of children’s play structure on the pedestrian plateau resulted from a number of conversations the authors had with the inhabitants in order to come up with the way how and what with to enrich the bar structures.
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B Module Embankment (3od5) landmark, ludic
installation
participation
Second intervention in the ‘‘module’’ series transfers the typology of bar structure to several spots on the stretch of Sava embankment, another characteristic and significant area for Savica. Modules represent small training grounds 500 m distanced one from another thus creating a continuous open space gym, but also a space for stay and rest for everyone.
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C module Park (3od5)
landmark, ludic installation participation The third location for setting up modules is in a nice area of a large park which lacks urban equipment. There, the structure of modules becomes a place for sitting and playing for the elderly and the young.
About Zagreb
Interventions
After the workshop in Zagreb in February 2013, there was an intensive 6 months period of implementation of interventions until the final local event entitled “Trnjeraj “ taking place in late September. In addition to the usual activities of planning and design of proposals and coordination with the contractors, the cooperations with the local forces, local authorities, the civil sector organizations, the residents and the
interested individuals, were very significant for the acupuncture methodology. Since the call for expressions of interest, when the greatest motivation for participating in the project was demonstrated by City District Council of Trnje, followed by the workshop, some council members provided exceptional support to the project. Besides the logistical help, the local contacts in solving problems and dilemmas in the
implementation were of great importance and especially helpful in informing residents about the activities and inviting them to participate which proved to be a very difficult task for our team – ensuring the continued involvement of the citizens in the process. In all communications with all stakeholders, from initial discussions with the citizens on the nearby market place close before the workshop, during the exhibitions of proposed interventions, the field meetings with the residents and construction works, the team inevitably encountered a series of prejudices as an apparent result of alienation caused by current social circumstances : the resignation, disbelief that the small interventions could change anything, fear from vandalizing, even the doubt that the case was politically motivated or with some other interest. As soon as it was clarified that the sole aim of the initiative was improving the quality of urban life, the only remainings were approval, support, cooperation and a range of positive emotions. Unreserved support and cooperation has always been more than successful with children. Students from the local elementary schools participated in a series of activities and thus contributed in the multitude of levels, from additional contextual information for interventions, assistance in the actions of repainting, realizations and promotion of intervention to indirect involvement of adults and their presence in the opening event. Participation in individual intervention realization was diverse, from the people who have offered us refreshment during the work or help us around the works themselves, to the inclusion of neighborhood artists in the process. But the largest volunteer forces were still drawn from the organizing team and authors who have carried out themselves a large number of works that were impractical or uneconomic to be outsourced to the contractors. In most cases outside contractors were necessary, since there were more complex architectural and designed interventions, so the contractors were engaged in the project at several levels, from fully -paid works and services, through friendly sponsoring companies to the fully involved in-kind donors in the project. This kind of management had a tendency to strongly influence and constantly change the selection of contractors, and consequently technology and used material. This on the one hand significantly complicated monitoring and forecasting budgets and costs, but on the other hand led to significant savings. It also has caused the constant adjustments and changes in the planning stage, which resulted
in some variance in implementation compared to the original idea. Changes were in certain interventions influenced by direct comments of residents in the field, but that kind of shift was largely desired participatory improvement, including the contractors influence as well. An example of this can certainly be a project “Kockica” that changed its name after the interviews with children or “InOut” project that has derived a new concept called “Neighbourhood speaks”, which emerged later, after listening to a series of comments by passengers, while team was colouring the underpass in yellow. Various civil sector organizations that have supported the project joined us in the final event in various ways: by organizing the actions of cleaning the locations for the event, setting their own presentation or sales booths, performing a variety of performances, organizing a small show, playing music, etc. The diversity of participants at the event was united in this project, 35 around the common theme of improving the quality and activating public space and urban life. Nearly eight months after implementation of the interventions, each one tells its own story and has taken hold with different visibility level and success. “Kockica “ is active playground and interaction place and has partially shifted away parked cars around the place . “ In Out – Neighborhood Speaks” is probably one of the tidiest and least graffiti devastated underpasses in Zagreb, that continuously and harmoniously receives new impressions from the neighborhood. “OTW bridge”, on the other hand, is one static graphics intervention, identified by neighborhood residents as a “landmark” and creatively decorated landmark in predominantly concrete surrounding landscape. “Pimp My Štanga” activated children’s creativity in the process of paintings and recalled older citizens on this forgotten but favorite piece of urban furniture, yet unfortunately interactive canvas did not survive. “I love Dynamo” bikes on the river Sava embankment, despite all the fears of devastation, are still functional. Every night lamp lights up at least a few times driven by playful passers-by. They became recognized meeting point and “landmark” of the embankment and thus one of the most visible intervention made by City Acupuncture project. Small auditorium under the bridge “Stop by” stands as a resting place and a place for evening gatherings, but its extensive use, especially for the cultural and artistic purposes, is waiting for the warmer days.
Sarajevo (Bistrik city quarter)
1 – 5 April 2013 Podbistrik
Period Focus
The site is located on the southern side of the river Miljacka, across the Old Town of Sarajevo. It is a mixed residential area, with different housing types and structures (about 240 individual and collective housing structures and some 720 housing units), accommodating approximately 2160 residents. Two local roads access the site from its eastern and northern side and a tram station connecting the area with public transportation system is just across the river. Some pedestrian pathways cross the site diagonally. The significant spots and landmarks in and around the area are the City Hall, Baščaršija, the Marijin Dvor Center, the Inat House and the Kemal Pasha’s Bridge in the immediate vicinity, as well as the Sarajevo Brewery, the Museum of the City of Sarajevo and the Emperor’s Mosque.
Lecturers Armina Pilav, Vesna Hercegovac Pašić, Nihad Kreševljaković, Stjepan Roš
Since the City Hall is one of the most beautiful and significant buildings from the Austro–Hungarian period, the area is actually a frequently visited tourist spot. Right across the City Hall there is an area with some greenery, which used to house a kindergarten, surrounded by a playground. Unfortunately, it got destroyed during the war and attempts to revitalize the area have been unsuccessful. People interested in using the location would be associations’ members, as well as all other individuals and activists who wish to revitalize the area. Potential new users will be tourists, preschool children and associations that would like to use the location for cultural and social activities, and other purposes.
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Team Loading Participants Anka Ban (Split), Ognjen Jokić (Banja Luka), Davor Paponja (Banja Luka), Anastasija Spasovska (Skopje), Vilma Stopfer (Zagreb), Maja Ibrahimpašić (Sarajevo), Nevena Nikolić (Sarajevo) mentors Tamara Georgievska (Skopje), Edin Omanović
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(Belgrade)
Climbing Wall Skyscraper (p.40), Bench (p.40), 3 Billboard by the Cable Car (p.40)
Projects 1 2
TEAM Timtu Participants Petra Počanić (Zagreb), Predrag Milić (Belgrade), Guillaume Roulle (Sarajevo), Dina Haljeta (Sarajevo), Katarina Bošnjak (Sarajevo), Sabrina Čehajić (Sarajevo) mentors Emir Kapetanović (Sarajevo), Ivana Knez (Zagreb) Projects 4 Came, Saw, Sat (p.40), 5 Hastal a vista (p.41), 6 Mahaluša (p.41), 7 Parkupressure (p.41)
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Team Komunalci
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Dora Popić (Split), Igor Kuvač (Banja Luka), Marija Brđovid (Belgrade), Nataša Vckova (Skopje), Ena Hadžid (Sarajevo), Ermina Bajramović (Sarajevo), Luka Kasitz Participants
(Sarajevo) mentors
Daša Spasojević (Belgrade), Dragoslav Dragičević
(Split)
Projects 8 Trotoart (p.41), Stairway (p.42)
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Avlija (p.42),
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Perfect
Team Tanzanija Participants Iva Gotovac (Split), Kosta Parakliev (Skopje), Saša Zečević (Banja Luka), Amra Dragnić (Sarajevo), Minela Bezdrob (Sarajevo), Omer Zvizdić (Sarajevo) mentors Aleksandar Velinovski (Skopje), Ana Bušić (Sarajevo) Projects 11 Fragments (p.43), 12 Econteiner (p.43), 13 Baštek (p.43)
Team Valter Lana Barać (Banja Luka), Anđelija Cvetić Sabina Pleše (Zagreb), Dušan Raković (Banja Luka), Eldar Manđuka (Sarajevo), Irma Softić (Sarajevo) mentors Davorka Perić (Zagreb), Dragan Žuvela (Split) Projects 14 Bistrik (p.44), 15 Raja iz Saraj’va (p.44) Participants
(Belgrade),
On the following pages the continuous line above the intervention title represents projects in process of implementation, and the dashed line represents projects that remained concepts.
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Climbing Wall Skyscraper (Loading) ludic, landmark installation humor
This project intervenes into the facade of a skyscraper which never successfully integrated into the built tissue, and the space around it was dubbed “dangerous zone”. By placing a climbing wall onto the facade the “dangerous” transformes to “extreme”. 2
Bench (Loading) landmark furniture exploration
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A pathway in the middle of the park in front of the city hall leads nowhere. It is one among many examples of unfinished adornments in Bistrik. This small segment of the park is being finished symbolically by placing a bench at the end of that path, resulting in a place for pleasant rest with a view of the city hall. 3
Billboard by the Cable Car (Loading) social installation exploration, critique
This intervention has been designed for the entrance stairs of the old and currently nonfunctional cable car which used to take people to Trebević hill. Placing a billboard with a photography of Sarajevo ironically reminds one of that “lost” view. 4
Came, Saw, Sat (TIMTU)
functional, landmark furniture conviviality The south bank of the river Miljacka is used for rest and stay only by the pupils of the vocational School for gastronomy and tourism. A minimal intervention of placing wooden bars forming seats onto the bank walls makes this area more attractive.
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Hastal a vista (TIMTU) social furniture conviviality, gastronomy
By designing a mobile counter the pupils of the vocational School for gastronomy and tourism are provided with opportunity to offer food they prepared themselves. The social cohesion of the space is strengthened by active participation of the pupils in the project through social interaction with other users of the neighborhood. 6
Mahaluša (TIMTU) social, landmark installation exploration, humor
By placing fake peep holes “mahaluše” onto the walls of various locations in Bistrik, the space is given a new dimension of a network of intimate micro-spaces. By peeking into a roundly shaped box of mahaluša, one gets information on various subjects from cultural tourism domain to current neighborhood stories. 7
Parkupressure (TIMTU) social
installation
critique
The space of unfinished and partly neglected park across the city hall is fenced by a fake construction site fence, and a construction sign containing fake information on building a bogus project for a residential and office building is mounted. Using provocation, this intervention aims at raising awareness about the value of public space in the minds of the local community. 10
Trotoart (Komunalci) ludic, landmark participation
event
Project trotoart identifies hypertrophied dimensions of the sidewalk in Bistrik borough and their unusual usage as artistic inspiration for street art interventions. Together with mapping and classification of different forms of sidewalk in Bistrik, it proposes establishment of workshops and festivals for city artists.
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Avlija (Komunalci) re-do furniture participation, conviviality
This intervention identifies a small preserved green corner within otherwise densely built up urban area of Bistrik. The project envisages transforming this space into a small urban living room, preceded by an action of clearing this valuable space. Both actions presuppose participation of local community.
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Perfect Stairway (Komunalci)
re-do construction exploration A stairway that connects Ä?arĹĄija and mahala has been functionally poorly designed. The solution proposes triangular extension of the upper part of the stairway and addition of handrails. The search for the perfect design of the stairway flows through participative process of monitoring the movements of the pedestrians.
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Fragments (Tanzanija)
landmark, social furniture, technology sensory trigger Intervention foresees placing rectangular seating elements also functioning as lighting elements in an unlit park across the city hall. The verses inscribed on the elements themselves symbolically represent fragments – flying ashes of the books burnt during the war.
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Econteiner (Tanzanija)
esthetic, functional construction critique Specially designed construction for waste deposition and recycling, as a reaction to the existing problem of waste deposition and disposal in Bistrik. Specific design consists of a door closing system which should prevent stray dogs to scatter the waste. 13
BaĹĄtek (Tanzanija) landmark, ludic furniture conviviality
The intervention foresees placing of seating elements onto the wall towards the river Miljacka, in the area in front of the Vocational School for Gastronomy and Tourism. The elements encourage social cohesion, and their forms derive from eating utensils, signalizing the proximity of the school.
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Bistrik (Valter) landmark technology exploration
Historical borough Podbistrik and its mahala style houses hide lives of its inhabitants and cover the vistas of famous locations. This work proposes Bistrik instrument*, a symbolic homage to having a right to a view.
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Raja iz Saraj’va (Valter)
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landmark furniture conviviality The work proposes intervention into several layers of public space. It forms space for rest, planting herbs and gastronomical events in the intimate zone of the Vocational School for Gastronomy and Tourism backyard. In the public city zone of the wall next to the river Miljacka, the project activates the space through creative lighting of the river bank thus creating romantic atmosphere in currently unpleasant and unlit space.
About Sarajevo
Interventions
A dose of adjusting and finding solutions to the conditions which we did not meet during workshops in Skopje, Zagreb, and Belgrade was requested from all the participants, and mentors, especially those ones who came from other cities to the City Acupuncture workshop in Sarajevo. The location of the workshop in Sarajevo, the Podbistrik district, in character and appearance was quite different – the representation of the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and socialist architectural and urban development made this quarter very interesting but complex. Small alleys, extremely narrow sidewalks, numerous small private houses and courtyards are characteristics that required creativity and ingenuity from all the participants . A long period of polishing of idea proposals, communicating with local and city levels of government, and searching for ways to implement interventions followed after the interventions selection procedure. The complex state of the country and of the municipality institutions organization in BiH were factors did not go in favor of the project. With the support and constant communication with The Municipality of Stari Grad we came to an agreement on the final selection and implementation of three interventions that have greatly contributed to the appearance, functionality and quality of the district. All three interventions enrich the content of public space, are opening it towards the more intense and purposeful use of all users of the area, and give the entire district the character of a modern and urban spac . “Avlija” (the Courtyard) is located between two schools, and medical care center, in a high frequency location . The prpoposal gave a purpose and visual identity to this space after almost two decades. “Stepenište” (the Stairs) now finally looks modern and adapted to the needs of users, while “Kubus” (the Cube) creates communication between the park and the Town Hall in a unique way, the wi – fi signal that cube transmitts provides communication with every corner of the world. The City Acupuncture project left a lasting and important mark in Sarajevo, and improved and enriched the urban content of the center of the city.
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Split (Varoš city quarter)
7 – 11 October 2013 Varoš
Period Focus
Varoš is a space that indicates a particular type of urban places, generally smaller in size, and in this sense is synonymous with the word market place. Also, as a characteristic that is more common in the southern Croatian region, it marks the suburbs (including township on the outskirts of town – fortress) or independent sites that evolved from the former suburbs (or suburbs). Veli Varoš is the only one of the old Split’s suburbs which had the characteristics of a village. This “village” had its own landmarks which remained present to this day, such as the characteristic trees (palm tree, hackberry tree) and always having a chapel at the intersection or along the street. It did not have proper squares, but it had its “widths”, appropriate for the atmosphere and terrain. The border spaces of Varoš have always been areas of major changes because that was the area where the city met the village. Today the view of Veli Varoš is obstructed with numerous monumental buildings that impose like a lavish wall that hides the modest homes of the humble neighborhood. In the 20th century Varoš could no longer be considered a village. The territory was divided into regions, and Varoš, together with the town, became the part of the inner environment of the Split area. This period is generally characterized with numerous changes of the streets’ names, which created some new squares and movement of the administrative boundaries of certain spaces.
Lecturers Snježana Perojević, Frane Dumandžić, Nikola Bojić, Vjeran Piršić
Veli Varoš boundaries are: natural coastline from St. Francis to the former church of St. Peter de Solurat to the south and offshore, Marjan hill to the west, Plinarska Street to the north, and Matošića Street to the east. Matošića Street and Plinarska Street conjoined the new city quarters in the northwest with the southern town. Senjska Street and Križeva Street remained where they were, the main streets of the plebeian suburb. Drawn westward to the slopes of Marjan hill, until recently, Veli Varoš was isolated from the development of the city that spread to the north and to the east. In many ways, Split still leaves the impression of a rural suburb, although, to a certain point, it was destroyed by illegal construction, ever growing tourism and the loss of space that got stolen in capitalism and privatization.
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Team Scenska Participants Mirna Balta (Split), Ivan Banovac (Split), Danka Grbac (Split), Andrea Jamakoska (Skopje), Dina Pivac (Split), Armin Sepić (Sarajevo), Mirjana Utivć (Belgrade) Mentors Kristina Careva (Zagreb), Monika Petrov (Skopje) Projects 1 Take a break (p.50), 2 Spritzer at Luka’s (p.50), 3 The Wood Shines, the Wood Sings (p.51)
Team Kate
1
& iznenadne oaze
Domagoj Bolanča (Split), Katarina Bošnjak Ana Burić (Zagreb), Iva Kolak (Split), Andrea Pavlović (Split), Marija Petrovska (Skopje) Mentors Daša Spasojević (Belgrade), Emir Kapetanović Participants
(Sarajevo),
5
(Sarajevo)
Would you like to play? / Playground (p.51), Small Wall for Seating (p.51)
Projects 4 5
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Team Varoške
mačke
Participants
Andrea Čeko (Zagreb), Anita Karaman (Split), Jasna Hrga (Split), Nina Imamović (Sarajevo), Anđela Marinović (Split), Jana Tasevska (Skopje), Vjekoslava Moscatello (Split) mentori Edin Omanović (Belgrade), Dijana Dimitrievska (Skopje) Projects 6 Diss the Piss (p.52), 7 Fountain+ (p.52), 8 I write, I draw, I scrabble [vARToš] (p.52)
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Team Baluni
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sudionici Nikola Križanac (Split), Luka Cvitan (Split), Ariana Kun (Split), Vanda Trifunović (Split), Jovana Miletić (Belgrade), Nika Bralić (Zagreb) Mentors Nikola Bojić (Split), Tomislav Soldo (Zagreb) Projects 9 Vinko’s Park (p.52), 10 Smoje’s Theatre (p.53), 11 Duje’s Fountain (p.53), 12 Balloon of Ideas (p.53) 15
Team 5
i 20
Participants Marko Borota (Split), Filip Kobzinek (Split), Jelena Katavić (Split), Antonia Vuletić (Split), Snežana Ćuruvija (Belgrade), Ivana Lukenda (Zagreb) Mentors Karlo Kazinoti (Split), Ana Bušić (Sarajevo) Projects 13 Reserved! (p.54), 14 1950 (p.54), 15 Urinosculpture (p.54), 16 Sliding Handrail (p.54)
On the following pages the continuous line above the intervention title represents implemented projects, and those in process of implementation, whereas the dashed line represents projects that remained concepts.
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Take a break (Scenska)
landmark, re-do furniture, installation exploration The work identifies scenic view of one of the main axes of movement through Varoš, Senjska Street, and with a number of small interventions it emphasizes the existing sensory values – auditory, olfactory, tactile and visual. Reminiscences of the road signs mounted during the Mediterranean games in Split in 1979, when the Senj street was marked as part of the city’s sports routes, represent the framework of this intervention. 50
2
Spritzer at Luka’s (Scenska)
re-do, social conviviality
furniture, event
“Pockets”, rare empty public spaces within crammed structure of Varoš’s private lots, were noticed along the linear stretch of Senjska street – and the one next to the church of St Luke would be enriched with urban furniture. Barrels, reminiscent of the community wine press in the ground, and vertical vine flower beds contribute to socializing on this spot which has a long history of being the centre of social life of the neighborhood.
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The Wood Shines, the Wood Sings (scenska) landmark installation sensory trigger, exploration
The work identifies the value the sounds of Varoš have for the atmosphere, and it offers Split a hearing spot (Slušalica) together with belvedere (Vidilica). The intervention envisages placement of a sound installation, wind instrument, on empty green space on top of Senjska Street and, using the existing topography, organizes seating around it. 4
Would you like to play? / / Playground (Kate & iznenadne oaze)
social
event
dialogue, participation
This intervention deals with unarticulated space between three playgrounds on top of Plinarska Street where it envisages stands, canopy, seating area and a water fountain. It aims at conceiving an action which would directly include passers by, tenants of the nearby buildings, school pupils and other users, in order to come up with a solution and to participate in realization and maintenance. 5
Small Wall for Seating (Kate &
iznenadne oaze)
re-do, functional furniture conviviality, participation The intervention deals with a small wall on the edge of the area which was in the past used for gatherings and socializing, but today it is used for parking cars. By adding multifunctional elements (including barbecue, work surface, space for gaming, reading, leaving newspapers etc.) the intervention aims at showing the inhabitants of Varoš how they can improve their public space by simple interventions.
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Diss the Piss (Varoške mačke) social
technology
critique
This work proposes a solution to the problem of public urination which is especially tasteless and undesirable in the architecturally and spiritually valuable context of St. Michael church built in the XI century. Since in the proximity of the corner which has been recorded as the usual ‘crime scene’ is Moment Gallery Photo-Club, the combination of a movement sensor and an old photo flash is used in order to humorously warn the inhabitants about the concern for public space.
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Fountain+
(Varoške mačke)
re-do 52
furniture
conviviality
This intervention aims at renovation and recovery of the fountain in Kovačić Street and at mounting an additional bench in order to increase the number of seating places, as well as to additionally emphasize the central position and significance of water.
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I write, I draw, I scrabble [vARToš] (Varoške mačke) re-do, ludic
painting
dialogue
The work identifies a recurring pattern in the picture of stone built Varoš – smooth surfaces of built-in doors and windows used by inhabitants for public expression of their opinions, either creative or revolted. Proposition is to cover the built-in openings with blackboard color in order for Varoš to become a map of arbitrarily distributed surfaces which open a window into life, give new artistic identity and oust vandalism off the stone walls. 10
Vinko’s Park (Baluni) ludic
furniture
exploration
The work identifies one of the specific moments in space – impression and signature of Vinko in fresh concrete of Radmilovićeva Street dating from 1997 – and it uses it to bring back someone’s personal story into collective memory of the spot. The intervention places two seating surfaces onto existing walls and links them visually, thus provoking further research into the micro-location rich with traces of distant and recent events.
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Smoje’s Theatre (Baluni)
social, cultural furniture, event
conviviality
Spatial installation is dedicated to Miljenko Smoje, a cult journalist, literary and screenplay writer, whose life and work created frameworks in which common people from small Dalmatian towns became big and important. The intervention encompasses the space starting from the entrance to Miljenko Smoje Street, over a narrow passageway to the widening resembling a small square. It consists of several simple elements (information, signposts, auditorium, scene and stage set) which are mutually connected and create a unit. The qualities of the space are accentuated by framing the architectural setting, creating a story and adding a function, and thus the community is given the possibility to identify and use them.
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Duje’s Fountain (Baluni) ludic
installation
sensory trigger
The solution envisages placement of triangular sprinkler construction on the topmost point, creating watery atmosphere on the square as a memory of a micro bath that used to appear around the fountain. In summer, the space functions as a cooling square of watery mist, and during winter as a space for socializing and/or activities where the triangular sprinkler construction is used as a frame for local interventions, e.g. placement of Christmas decorations.
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Balloon of Ideas (Baluni) social
event
participation, sensory trigger
The aim of this project is to mark a spot of a problem or an idea: describe your idea in several sentences; draw a picture of it and write down what exactly do you need (money, material, help with construction or organization); and tie it to a balloon. Leave the balloon on the exact spot where you wish to intervene. Varoš is full of people who would like to change something. It’s time that we join hands and create a better life.
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Reserved! (5 i 20) re-do, social
installation
critique, conviviality
The project features placement of an old, non-functional car on one of the rare public spaces in Varoš, most of which are used for car parking. This would permanently ‘‘reserve’’ that parking space. Halved body of an old car is placed around a table in the centre. Design supposes sitting on old tires next to the storage area in the trunk and a flower bed in engine space.
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1950 (5 i 20) landmark, social conviviality
construction
Work on a run-down green slope next to the existing sports grounds proposes construction of stands formed as Torcida’s famous number – 1950. Stands with 110 seating places are used for watching sporting events, but also for generating new activities such as concerts, children’s events, plays etc.
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Urinosculpture (5 i 20) social
sculpture
humor
In the last several years young urban scene often socializes on Matejuška, which, among other things, also results in spreading of unpleasant smells due to the fact that the existing public toilette is often broken and is rarely used. This work proposes that a “urinosculpture” is placed on a pontoon, a functionally grounded provocation, where the sea is identified as an effective and costless means of cleaning and maintenance. The installation consists of thin tin slabs, folded accordion-like, allowing four men’s places for urinating, and three more intimate ones for women. 15
Sliding Handrail (5 i 20)
ludic
installation
exploration
Recognizably steep streets of Varoš are difficult to overcome for some inhabitants, especially when they are slippery due to rain. This work creates a new urban element – “tobohvat” (a pun on slide and handrail) which helps in climbing up but also serves as a structure for play (slide) for children.
About Split
Interventions
The main strength of Split Workshop and realizations is the gained support from the authorities and recognition and acceptance from the citizens from the very beginning of the process. Due to our efforts and local connections the Mayor’s office supported City Acupuncture project in Split both financially and logistically. Mayor’s deputy figured out that City Acupuncture is a great way to include young experts, locals and municipality and solving very important city problems. All of the stated parts of society were a part of the jury we picked, so that the interventions chosen have a variety of themes and problems they are dealing with. We also started very intense media campaign so that our projects and the workshop itself coexist with the citizens of Varoš. We called the workshop Varoš Acupuncture and started to include children, associations and regular citizens. This was also very important part, and we’ve done it thoroughly, especially the media campaign, knowing that the efficacy of all the interventions relies on locals identifying with this project. With every news we put online we covered it with photographs of the event, theme or the support we just received, to give direct feedback to the public. As a preparation for the workshop integral field mapping of district Varoš has been done by participants from Split. For nearly five hours 12 participants went in the district and photographed and mapped it very thoroughly, focusing on public spaces. This map was a good base document with facts for every group, so when they choose location they knew exactly its context. After the mapping of Varoš, children’s workshop has been organized with pupils from primary school Marjan which is situated in that district. Kids went to the location and told organizers what they liked and didn’t like. Afterwards they all sat and wrote and drew about the theme they thought it was important. The reading of their essays was documented in a small publication and filmed. During the workshop we tried to encourage participants to go out and communicate with the locals every day. It was very important for us that they always know what is the problem on the location that they are trying to deal with, who lives in the nearby, what is the past that place, or what is the urban legend connected with it. After the workshop ended, colleagues and co-organizers had some remarks on the individual media identity that we’ve made
for this workshop. The reason for that was to create more memorable and easily remembered project identity that communicated with media and locals in a much simpler way. Result of that decision was far best visibility that we had for this workshop throughout all of media: newspapers, radio, TV, web sites, blogs, social media etc. The final exhibition had a purpose to include locals more directly in the decision making and choosing of extra projects that would be made. It was announced months before so that local citizens know they will be able to participate directly. Immediately after the exhibition was over we've started to conduct realizations, and this definitely is the most difficult and problematic part of City Acupuncture, specifically here in Split. We had no troubles with admin- 55 istration or communal police because we had strong support from the top of city political hierarchy, and media campaign we've conducted made City Acupuncture very popular among the citizens. Our main problem was the functioning of participants and tutors in postworkshop period, and the lack of the initiative from the people that prosper the most from this workshop – participants. Since no formal obligation or contract existed and Split organizers don’t have a privilege of many functioning members, we have witnessed a significant reduction in team members and their motivation in the realization process. To summarize, experiences with local government is more than satisfying. Not everything went well: two (possibly three) interventions couldn’t be finalized because they were on the private property, and city of Split doesn’t have a map of private and public lands; sometimes they didn’t know who was amenable person for specific type of problem we had, but the will to solve the problems was present in every situation we encountered. We were also lucky that this support started with the highest ranks in Mayors office, throughout many of city councilors to media to citizens and their children. We always had a “chain of commands” with us as “spokesmen”.
City Acupuncture Forum
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City Acupuncture Forum (Zagreb, 24 April 2014)
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The City Acupuncture Forum focused on wider insights and analytical reviews of new cultural, social and political urban practices that use new participatory methods in shaping and improving our environment. Organizations applied participatory methods represented a new generation of creative urban forces that usually works in interdisciplinary teams, which has open and flexible approach to the current situation in the city, changing it from the inside and showing how social change can happen through design of space and process. In contact with the inhabitants the organization seeks to find a potential that can be used in the process of urban renewal that resulted in a small but precise actions that connect architecture, urbanism, art and intervention in the public space. Today, when public space generally does not occur through collective action, the value of participatory projects is that they allow participants exploring, understanding and changing the city and its dynamics, as well as the potential of a given area. The Forum included presentations and insights of different methodologies that are systematically used in a number of cities to regional and European level, and have become proven and powerful instruments to improve the quality of urban life and greater social cohesion.
Introductory part of the Forum was focused on different methodologies shaping new public policies and social design the examples of several associations. Micro interventions and new architectural practices were presented by architects Florent Chiappero from the French collective Collectif Etc (founded in 2009 in Strasbourg as a group of students of architecture and graphic design) and Alex Axinte from Studio BASAR (architectural study initiated in 2006 in Bucharest), with the focus on “Search-and-Rescue“ approach, which operate through observation, research and intervention in public urban space.
City Acupuncture Forum Programme
Welcoming addresses Introduction to the City Acupuncture Forum
Ministry of Culture Republic of Croatia City of Zagreb, City of Split President of Zagreb Society of Architects Coordinator of the City Acupuncture project
NEW PUBLIC POLICIES & SOCIAL DESIGNS La 27e Region (France)
Pauline Scherer
Kessels Kramer (The Netherlands)
Gijs van den Berg, Matthijs de Jongh
MICRO-INTERVENTIONS &NEW ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICES Collectif Etc (France)
Florent Chiappero
Studio BASAR (Romania)
Alex Axinte
ACUPUNCTURE METHODOLOGIES City Acupuncture Methodology (Croatia)
Kristina Careva
City Acupuncture in the Region (Bosnia & Hercegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia)
Dragan Žuvela, Frane Dumandžić, Split Dejan Ubović, Belgrade Marijana Kramarić, Sarajevo Natali Ristovska, Skopje
Cultural Acupuncture Treatment For Suburbs project (Czech Republic)
Igor Kovačević
SUPERINTENSE Regional artists, associations and civil sector organizations representing their work in 6 min format
Hrvatsko društvo dizajnera – Ivana Borovnjak i Marko Golub, Zagreb Slobodne veze – Ivana Meštrov i Tonka Maleković, Zagreb Kulturni Front – Dean Ubović, Belgrade
PANEL DISCUSSION This part of the conference served as a platform to discuss and share valuable experiences from different socio-cultural backgrounds, thus bringing different perspectives on the methodologies and its impact on the fabrication of public space, and creating an open-source toolbox of social designs, to be made available to multiple stakeholders.
Pauline Scherer, La 27e Region (France); Florent Chiappero, Collectif ETC (France); Alex Axinte, Studio BASAR (Romania); Igor Kovačević, Cultural Acupuncture Treatment For Suburbs project (Czech Republic); Dejan Ubović, Cultural Front (Serbia)
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La 27e Région (France)
Collectif Etc (France)
La 27e Région is a non profit organization based in Paris in 2008, operating as an innovation lab for 26 French regions. The project is run by a team with design, political and administrative science skills, together with a network involving 40 professionals such as service designers, sociologists, architects, urban planners, anthropologists, digital activists and researchers. The creation of 27th Region was based on the strong belief that design, thinking and social innovation could highly contribute to reshape public sector, and encouraging civil servants to use creativity as a way to find new solutions and promoting the participation of the citizens and concepts such as co-design. In fifteen friendly hacking participatory action-research experiments in collaboration with nine regional administration within two different programs, “Territoires en Residences” and “La Transfo”, questioned the inside-out attitude, the role of neutral activists, working over thinking, interventions at multiple levels, visionary perspective and documenting hacking
Collectif Etc question the current methods of city building and planning while providing citizens with an important role in creative process. Their projects range from architectural construction, designs and construction of public equipments, organizing of conferences and workshops, developing new public strategies, to more artistic interventions like sculptures and installations. In the last three years travelling collective has carried out its project „Detour of France“ which goal was to meet and to work with different stakeholders in city building process using and the horizontal approach explores the forms and structures of space management and introduces networked organizations engaged in social activities and work together with the institutional network. The principle of their operation is “Chantier ouvert” (open construction site) methodology through educational workshops, roundtables and practical training allows the participation of citizens in shaping the environment through the preparation and implementation of small scale projects. Their projects investigated the use of space to provide a tool for citizens to communicate with the public administration.
Studio BASAR (Romania) Studio BASAR was established in 2006, as an architectural studio and a Search-and-Rescue team that acts as an agent of urban observation and interventions mostly preoccupied with dynamics of local urban culture and disappearing importance of public spaces in transitional Bucharest (as is the case in the south east Europe). Their work range from art installations and urban research to competition works. Alex Axinte emphasized that the primary motivation for engaging in socially engaged architecture found in their desire for a deeper understanding of everyday situations and dynamics of local urban culture, in the specific environment. The principle of design based on research - intervention, installation and induced incidents that generate site-specific practices in public space - Alex illustrated through several examples of these practices, such as the activation of public space with festival ad-hoc actions (as temporary pool on the street, as part of the annual festival “Un traseu de Promenade” in Bucharest) or performative techniques in the production of urban public space with long term, “negotiation”, by inserting equipment such as public benches (the Letter bench).
The Cultural Front (Serbia) The Cultural Front is an independent institution established in Belgrade in 2000. CF’s programmes are based on an international exchange of programmes, treating the media as a free field for expression, commissioning and promoting young artists, advocating the rights of socially marginalised individuals and groups, constructive cooperation and debate between the civil society and power structures, and generally promoting culture as an integral part of wider social and economic development. So far, the Cultural Front has organized projects dedicated to alternative and innovative approach in areas of art, culture and education, always breaking the borders of ordinary by enforcing regional co–operation and co–production, cherishing dialogue, mutual respect and above all excellence in the arts and culture, regardless of ethnicity, religious views, sexual preferences etc. For Forum Dean Ubović from The Cultural Front described how the placement of the cultural centre in deserted and somewhat dangerous environment in the centre of Belgrade has created a cult place, which was followed by social transformation of this location.
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Cultural Acupuncture Treatment For Suburbs
(CZECH REP. & EASTERN EUROPE)
Architect Igor Kovacevic from CCEA - Centre for Central European Architecture (Prague), was focused on contemporary architectural practice, reflecting the city’s development and artistic interventions in Central Europe. The project CLUBURB - Cultural Acupuncture Treatment for Suburb activates a public realm in the suburbs of central European capital cities, by minimal means, and starts the citification of suburbia. A first step in such a process is the improvement of public spaces in the suburbs. They start this process through acupuncture interventions in six localities around Central European capitals (Budapest-Délegzháza, Bratislav- Rajka, Rusovice, Ljubljana-Zalog, Warsaw-Ursus, Vienn- Standleiten, Prague- Psáry). Today Central European cities are again becoming a political arena of citizens, initiatives, NGOs, and other forms of activism, but we are witnessing a lack of such activities in suburbia. At the same time we can see the extreme growth of suburbs around all cities, meaning a huge number of European inhabitants are placed out of the dense city but still have access to all it’s advantages. The pressure made by suburbia and sprawl to the core of a city is not just an infrastructural issue connected with financial investment, but it brings a paradox to the contemporary city because it is increasingly loosing one of its primary functions – housing. The majority of city users no longer live in the city; home is beyond the city borders. This fact causes a new political map where city users,
the ones living in suburbia, almost have stronger voting potential than city residents. This distribution of political power is deadly for the future of the European city. Either it is necessary to change the structure of political systems, or to extend city functions to suburbia and decrease daily migration. Project have been world wide presented thought an open call for acupunctures which results into more then 250 applications from Mexico to New Zeeland. From selected acupunctures 27 of them have been realized in seven locations. Beside this, a symposium Shaping Cities gathered European NGO focusing on the city and it results in an open database of the interventions in public space under web pages www.uconnector. eu where other NGO can join and share their experiences and projects.
Loose Associations (Croatia) Loose Associations placed the emphasis on contemporary art practices and new media. The NGO was presented by art historian Ivana Meštrov and young artist Tonka Maleković. Loose Associations is looking for modes of destabilization of the system of apparent reality through mechanisms of discursive analysis and visual representation in order to create gaps, territories of “the possibilities undiscovered” which are to be found outside of the given choices imposed by the dominant politics of culture. Since its foundation, several collaborative projects were set up under the forms of exhibitions, panels, workshops, and residencies, giving visibility to the non institutionalized “art scenes” in post-socialist Europe with self-organization and collective creation as ways of their functioning. At present, the association is involved in a project SPACES: Sustainable Public Areas for Culture in Eastern Countries, collaborative project funded by EU-Eastern Partnership Culture Program (Armenia, Georgia, R.Moldova, Ukraine). The interest for the current processes happening in the public spaces, problems of the shrinking public, and ways of resisting it, represent another main focus of the association. In 2013, City at a Second Glance, a sequel of exhibitions, public art interventions and workshops within the underrepresented urban areas, has been initiated. Parallel, Hallway-Gallery LiberSPACEhas been tackling the issues of different cultural set ups and economical frames for the art production. Also, in 2013, the widely spread and efficient campaign initiated by the team gathered around Slobodneveze for the formal protection of Motel
Trogir as a monument of culture has opened a 63 way to the broader discussion and action fostering socialist modernist architectural heritage protection and its public visibility in Croatia. Loose Association also find the potential in research and non institutional educational platforms as a way of forming collectivities, public exchange of critical positions and personal relation to the notion of official narratives and belief systems. The association participates in ARS PUBLICAE project 1postozaumjetnoston public art and its burning issues in Croatia (led by UIII and Saša Šimpraga) and leads Kustoskaplatforma, an educational programme on contemporary art and theory, critical curatorial and exhibition practices. It has been one of the co-curators of Mediterranea 16-Young Artists Biennial taking place in Ancona, IT in 2013.
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The Croatian Designers Society (Croatia) The Croatian Designers Society, Zagreb is a non-government, non-profit, voluntary professional association founded at first as Society of Designers of Croatia in 1983. The mission is to promote the common professional and social interests of their members and the systematic creation of conditions to improve the professional practice in design, its goals include the development and affirmation, promotion and development of design in Croatia. The president of The Croatian Designers Society Ivana Borovnjak presented the practice of the
D-Day (Dan D). In the rich exhibition and discursive program D-Day deals with peripheral areas of design work, upgrading the concept of common frameworks of design, as well as slipping towards other disciplines. Selecting location revives abandoned spatial resources in Zagreb and after industrial complex old slaughterhouse and Factory Gredelj in this year’s fifth edition moves into areas of former military hospital in Vlaťka Street, Zagreb. With this goal in mind, CDD organises exhibitions, lectures and encourages professional valorisation of design of places and society. The festival raises the visibility of the area, but the long-term effect is difficult to assess as long as the city administration in their visions of space development space do not foresee a potential value of these locations.
Final Panel Discussion Forum and final panel discussion was a platform for discussion and exchange of valuable experiences from different socio-cultural backgrounds. It brought different perspectives on methodologies and their effects on the formation of public space. Discussion questioned the ways of how we can influence the lack of an active transformation of public space or how we can prevent the alienation of the user space of the space itself. And in the end we found out that coordination and understanding among all stakeholders including citizens that is an answer for better public space. Further discussions focused in methodology comparisons between participants, and have shown the value of diversity in their practices; although they have the same goals, their approaches can locally differ. In conclusion, Forum has again highlighted the necessity of innovative models of cooperation between concerned citizens and public administrations, but also the necessity of using a professional architectural knowledge in the mediation process of city planning and the creation of new values in the public space. The problem is that the concept of participation in the political discourse of the European Union has become a sort of a buzzword, while the actual process of development of the city is actually rarely used in projects presented on Forum. With regard to cooperation with the city government, the experience of participants is different. Alternative sources of financing
projects typically provide critical approach and meet the educational goals of projects aimed at the general public. However, the adoption of such models in the standard development process of the city is one of the goals presented in the Forum, so we believe that the public presentation, open approach to citizens will encourage greater communication, understanding and acceptance by the city government.
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Repository (disclaimer)
The aim of the catalogue is to consolidate and summarize the results of the City Acupuncture project and to raise the public awareness of the importance and the impacts of small interventions in the urban structure on the city life quality. The small interventions and participative methodologies tend to improve the quality of urban life, increase social cohesion of local communities and strengthen the identity of the neighbourhoods. They are changing the attitudes of citizens towards the spaces and places they use or they own in the cities and are compatible with, although very different from general urban planning procedures and projects. Many organizations and groups have been intervening in the cities around the globe in more organized or spontaneous ways and we have tried to recognize and acknowledge their efforts as well as to show trends that are happening in our cities. The intention of the project team was to collect as many examples as possible and to create the reference source and inspirational guidelines for all the future initiatives coming either from the local authorities, civil associations or activists groups.
All reasonable efforts have been made to 67 contact, identify and acknowledge the authors of the interventions or the photographs presented in this section. Any infringement of the authors’ right was not intentional and we apologize in advance. Should that be the case, the authors are invited to contact us so we could correct the omission on the web repository of the interventions on the www.cityacupuncture. org that will stay accessible and updated source on the Internet. We have been improving and building up the City Acupuncture methodology of intervening in the different urban structures throughout the project and learning from similar methodologies and many examples. We are presenting our learning here and sharing our experiences with hope that it will be useful source to anyone with the same passion of changing our cities for better.
The Strings (2011) re-do furniture, installation conviviality Brno, Czech Republic Studio BASAR source goo.gl/0ezxJ8 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The installation was dealing with the leftovers of the socialist project, as they transformed the forgotten public metallic bars designed for hanging clothing to dry or for cleaning the carpets into multipurpose public furniture, that together with two instant swings helped creating a new place in the neighborhood, used by the locals the same day. 68
The Traveling Cabin (2011) ludic
installation
critique
Brno, Czech Republic Studio BASAR source goo.gl/0ezxJ8 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The intervention was a mobile unit: a traveling cabin that provokes the status of the public fountains in the city. The public fountains used to bring water close to the citizens, either for washing, cooling, or for bathing. In time, they lost most of those qualities, and the fountains are used today just to please the eye. The Traveling Cabin is a provocation and an opportunity for the citizens to use these fountains as they please, even as bathing places in the hot summer days. Placed near public fountains,The Traveling Cabin acts as changing room, but it also can behave as a check point, a private pavilion, smoking place or a kiosk.
Power Cart (2007 →) re-do, functional
technology
interactivity
New York City, New York, USA Mouna Andraos source goo.gl/0KQrtb (2014-05-21) Location Author
Street vendors have traditionally played a role in defining the urban environment, often reflecting the social and cultural particularities of a city. Power Cart is a mobile unit that delivers a quick recharge for urban dwellers’ mobile devices. With sustainability in mind, Power Cart derives its energy from solar cells and hand-operated crank power. Power Cart was designed to be easily assembled by anyone using off-the-shelf pieces. Detailed instructions are available on her website www. livingwithourtime.com.
Manuscript (2011) esthetic, cultural
sculpture
sensory trigger
Beijing, China Paul Cocksedge Studio source goo.gl/1aB2vn (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Giant pages of poetry made from rolled steel sheets were installed outside the China Millennium Monument. The sculpture’s impressive scale presents itself as a monument to the industrial capability of China. The individual sheets making up this complex structure are precisely fabricated and assembled by local manufacturers. Upon closer inspection the piece is made up of rolled steel pages inscribed with poems carefully curated from Chinese and English sources. ‘Manuscript’ is about the exchange of words, poetry and knowledge between Beijing and London.
Local Previews (2000 →) social
installation
dialogue
Brooklyn & Manhattan, New York, USA Freecell source goo.gl/1depHE (2014-05-21) Location Authors
“Construction sites beg the imagination of what could or should be built,” according to Freecell’s principals Lauren Crahan and John Hartmann. Local Previews is a series of fictitious development posters for unbuilt sites. One scheme advertises City Sort, a recycling center with a rooftop greenhouse. Another, SKY- field, proposes a vertical farm to supply organic produce to the city’s schools. “It’s a form of architectural graffiti,” they explain, “meant to capture people’s imagination and to challenge them to question the changes that are happening around them.”
Waterlilies (2012) re-do
installation
sensory trigger
Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, USA Bruce Munro source goo.gl/1jatuV (2013-02-10) Location Author
The floating recycled installation was meant to “pass on a positive energy; nothing more intellectual than that.” This site-specific installation seems to hide amidst nature: “waterlilies” composed of hundreds of used CDs, float alongside natural victoria lilies in one of the garden’s lake. Flirting with light the installation makes visitors feel the warm glow of a smile and satisfaction.
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Cleveland Bridge Project (2009) re-do
event
exploration, sensory trigger
Cleveland, Ohio, USA Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative source goo.gl/1oHC6v (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Cleveland has more infrastructure than necessary to meet the needs of the city’s shrinking population. The authors have been working to transform the city’s existing assets into lively public spaces, to develop ideas for alternative uses of the lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, which was originally designed for streetcars and has been vacant since 1954. They have been organizing temporary events and installations, including wayfinding to help people get to the bridge, taped-off bike lanes, portable lawn on wheels. These interventions invite people to envision future possibilities for the space and make it their own. 70
Bubble Building (2012) ludic
installation
interactivity
Rotterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/1YYIvX (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The world’s most delicate and temporary pavilion, made entirely of soap bubble, it instigates action and interaction, as it only appears when visitors build it themselves. It consists of 16 hexagonal ponds; a form found naturally in clustered bubbles. It generates a surreal image, as if they were walking on water. The building itself is nowhere to be seen; only a few handlebars hint at what needs to be done. Once everyone positions themselves and pulls up the steel frames, the pavilion shows. Visitors are invited to eternalise their own momentary version of the pavilion in a bubble snapshot, which is then transferred to a website.
Parklets (2005 →) re-do, social
furniture
exploration
San Francisco, California, USA & elsewhere Studio Rebar source goo.gl/2LWYmC (2014-05-23) Location Authors
San Francisco’s streets and rights-of-way make up fully 25% of the city’s land – more than the area of the city’s parks combined. This fact motivated design studio Rebar to create a micro-park that occupied a metered parking spot in downtown San Francisco for a few hours. In 2011 San Francisco began issuing Parklet Permits to residents and businesses alike, as part of its Pavements to Parks program.
A Maze for Yorkshire (2013) landmark, ludic
construction
exploration
Yorkshire, UK Richard Woods source goo.gl/2tAjd0 (2014-05-21) Location Author
A Maze for Yorkshire’, fantastical cartoon dry-stone wall by internationally renowned artist Richard Woods has landed at The Orangery Wakefield this summer. This unique gift for Wakefield and the region is a space for everyone to experience, explore and enjoy. Commissioned by Beam, ‘A Maze for Yorkshire’ sits in the historic gardens of The Orangery, a hidden green gem in the heart of Wakefield’s emerging creative quarter. The Orangery is a place steeped in history, awaiting your discovery!
Mobile Universität Berlin (2012) social
furniture
dialogue
Berlin, Germany Mikromakro, Urbanophil & Stiftung Freizeit source goo.gl/2VYpnt (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The Mobile Universität Berlin (MUB) is deceptively simple in form—a cargo bike that can be unpacked into a multifunctional workspace. But the function of this bike is much more complex: it carries a flexible environment of learning and teaching out into the streets to bring local knowledge and skills deeper into the discourse about urban planning.
Bucky Bar (2010) social, ludic
construction
conviviality
Rotterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/ZfBc1D (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The Bucky Bar was made from the most common and yet most unusual of building materials: umbrellas. The title refers to the great American inventor, Buckminster Fuller, who demonstrated how minimal energy geodesic domes could open a way to a more environmentally sustainable future. Could an umbrella dome to lead the way to a more socially sustainable future? The Bucky Bar is a full-scale model of such a future. It shows the power of space for spontaneous gathering, for improvised shelters to host conversations, debates, games or even parties.
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Before I Die (2011) social
painting
dialogue
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA & elsewhere Candy Chang source goo.gl/393HY (2014-05-13) Location Author
After Candy Chang went through a difficult period in her life, she wanted a daily reminder of what really matters. After receiving permission, she painted the side of an abandoned house in her neighborhood with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence “Before I die I want to _____.” Anyone walking by could pick up a piece of chalk and share their personal aspirations. By the next day, all 80 prompts were filled. She created a website and thanks to passionate people around the world, over 425 Before I Die walls have been created in over 60 countries.
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Panda Invasion (2014) social
sculpture
critique, dialogue
Worldwide Paulo Grangeon source goo.gl/3DUucY (2014-05-13) Location Author
They may look pretty cute, but this mob of 1,600 papiermache spreads a very serious message. Due to human developments in their natural habitat, this represents exactly the same number of pandas that are still alive in the wild today. To create the piece, Grangeon worked alongside the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), PMQ, and creative studio AllRightsReserved. The pandas are currently on tour in Hong Kong and will soon appear at 10 landmarks, including the Hong Kong International Airport and the giant Tian Tan Buddha. They have already popped up in cities including Paris, Rome, Berlin, and Taipei.
Moving Design (2010 →) social
installation, event
dialogue, participation
Chicago & Champaign, Illinois, USA Moving Design source goo.gl/3EG93E (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Moving Design is a nonprofit coalition of graphic designers and artists who work with community partners to lead initiatives addressing pressing social and environmental issues. They issue “calls to action” on a range of concerns— from water stewardship to bicycle safety to air quality— urging their profession’s best and brightest to develop creative communication campaigns that educate, engage, and activate the public. For Moving Design’s committed network, effective communication is necessary to catalyze change.
Cart Coop (2010) social, re-do
furniture
humor
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Crookedworks source goo.gl/3z6iO5 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Design studio Crookedworks developed an inexpensive mobile chicken coop made from a shopping cart and streetscavenged materials. They then disseminated the design among students and urban farmers, hoping, they joked, to instigate a “Cartcoop Revolution.” Crookedworks also developed a downloadable Urban Farming Toolkit, a set of “recipes” on how to deal with urban gardening issues. With these and similar projects, Crookedworks envisions a participatory framework for a city in which design and planning tools can be utilized to improve food justice, economic self-sufficiency, and ecological vitality.
Blue Stick Garden
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(2006)
landmark sculpture sensory trigger Montreal, Canada Claude Cormier source goo.gl/41dlg4 (2013-02-10) Location Author
Cormier belongs to a new generation of designers who are reinstating landscape architecture as a practice responsive to other contemporary art forms. His temporary and permanent garden designs are consistently challenging with their look and experiences they invite.
Clue installation (2013) functional, landmark
furniture
exploration
Beijing, China Elevation Workshop Architects source goo.gl/4aRpVk (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The installation is a freestanding system that contains space for human activity and interaction. The design generates an ambiguous space by creating a set of floating horizontal surfaces that offer functional need for visitors. They are invited to lie, sit, stand and walk through the installation, constantly shifting between being enclosed and being exposed. The suspended edge condition provides a gradual and soft connection to the surrounding area.
Pink Punch ludic installation, furniture sensory trigger, exploration Grand-Métis, Quebec, Canada Nick Croft & Michaela MacLeod source goo.gl/jE4Xsp (2013-11-01) Location Authors
The installation Pink Punch for the Jardins de Métis International Garden Festival in Quebec attracts visitors by its striking color, standing against the natural browns and greens of its “wilderness” context. Visitors are drawn off the beaten path to a room in the forest, where a small cluster of trees are wrapped at their bases to create a communal seating, made from natural rubber pink latex rope.
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Piazza Gratissima (2012) social
construction
conviviality
Bronx, New York, USA BroLab source goo.gl/4lHh2c (2014-05-21) Location Authors
For the BroLab collective, a small under-utilized space in front of the Mott Haven Public Library in the Bronx seemed ripe for improvement. They sought permission from the library and city officials to develop a design intervention, and met with locals to hear what the neighborhood needed. Armed with $5,180 raised on Kickstarter, the artists created Piazza Gratissima, a multipurpose “free plaza” that amplifies the library’s position as a public commons. Like their previous collaborations, Piazza Gratissima reinforces their desire to “connect art to the live activities of both making and engagement.”
Drinking Water Running through the Streets (2012) social
installation
critique, sensory trigger
Madrid, Spain Luzinterruptus source goo.gl/4M9AF8 (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The glowing public work of art is an intervention – it’s intended not only to look beautiful, but to bring attention to the lack of water facilities in public spaces in the Spanish city. The group has collected over 200 glass vials that previously contained the Infantrini multiple vitamin supplement. After spending four months slowly gathering up the used vessels, Spanish art collective Luzinterruptus cleaned and transformed into a luminous installation that sheds light on a public infrastructure problem.
City Eyes (2008) social
installation, gastronomy
Dialogue
Amsterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/51ehiH (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Temporary interventions at the border between public and private. City-eyes addresses the border between the private and public domain. Subject of research are the Amsterdam windows: as windows are the eyes of the city. City-eyes offers a personal view into the souls of Amsterdam homes and thereby reveals the city’s hidden stories. All window events are miniature test cases, playing with the characteristics of the window as a screen between interior and exterior. This way, one’s private parquet will be part of the outdoor pavement for a moment, and the city becomes home.
Bubbleway (2011) ludic Location Authors
furniture
conviviality
Sydney, Australia Justine Topfer & Amanda
Sharad (Rebar Group) source goo.gl/5GeKdJ (2013-01-29)
Bubbleway is a modular, inflatable public furniture system that provides users to develop new arrangements for informal social interaction, encouraging creativity and collaboration. The modules can easily be reconfigured and adapted to support a variety of uses.
Gumniture (2012) re-do
furniture
conviviality
Zagreb, Croatia Dino Ivašić, Sanja Tušek, Hannah Vranko, Kristina Lugonja, Mateja Markešić, Filip Havranek & Larisa Ecimović source goo.gl/5OSlzS (2012-10-29) Location Authors
Young Croatian collective of architects and designers teamed up at one of the City Acupuncture workshops held in Zagreb in May of 2012 in the facilities of the Student Centre Zagreb. To induce movement through the area of the Student Centre they designed up cycled car tire urban equipment to attract attention in rarely visited areas of the centre and create new ones as well. Gumniture includes a love seat, swing, lounge chair and an ottoman.
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Public Farm One (2008) re-do gardening sensory trigger New York City, New York, USA Work Architecture Company source goo.gl/5u2Rlv (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Public Farm One is an urban farming project, shown outside the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre in New York. The temporary installation is an attempt to bring the qualities of the countryside into the city, by growing fruit and vegetables in large cardboard tubes above a communal area.
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I-Wish-This-Was (2010) social
installation
dialogue
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA & worldwide Candy Chang source goo.gl/6biVB (2013-11-01) Location Author
Inspired by vacant storefronts, Candy came up with the idea to create fill-in-the-blank stickers that say “I wish this was ____.” for people who have opinions of what they’d like to see in underutilized areas of their cities. It’s a fun, lowbarrier tool to provide civic input onsite, and the responses reflect the hopes, dreams, and colorful imaginations of different neighborhoods.
The Miniature Pothole Gardener (2010) re-do
gardening
humor
London, UK Steve Wheen source goo.gl/6c6awx (2014-05-16) Location Author
Steve Wheen started the Pothole Gardener project as part of a university course. Over time, the project turned into a blog that follows his gardening efforts around East London. Wheen describes his endeavors as “part art project, part labour of love, part experiment, part mission to highlight how s*** our roads are – the pictures and gardens are supposed to put smiles on peoples faces and alert them to potholes!” Although the miniature pothole gardens are cute and tiny, they pack a strong message.
Tiny Wooden Figures (2013) ludic
sculpture
sensory trigger
New Jersey, USA Joe Iurato source goo.gl/6G2Vwb (2014-05-14) Location Author
Inspired by various stages of his life, from skateboarding to breakdancing and rock climbing to the experiences of fatherhood, New Jersey-based artist Joe Iurato creates tiny wooden figures and sets them loose in public places. The daring little people dangle from bridges, swing from street signs, and often create their own “art” in the form of painted slogans left of sidewalks and curbs. Iurato frequently leaves the artworks to be discovered by the community, where depending on their location, they may only last a few days or even hours.
Linden Living Alley (2010) re-do, social
construction
conviviality
San Francisco, California, USA Dave Winslow & Loring Sagan source goo.gl/6mlC0C (2014-05-23) Location Authors
It is a modern “shared space” street – examples of which date back to the 1970s but have virtually disappeared due to accessibility requirements of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Architect Dave Winslow and designer Loring Sagan (whose studio Build Inc. is located on Linden Alley) worked for years with the city and disability advocates to develop a design that preserves accessibility while fulfilling the vision of a truly shared space.
Placemaking in Bronzeville (2012) social
event, furniture
dialogue
Chicago, Illinois, USA Urban Activators source goo.gl/6t98Yj (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Architect Monica Chadha and her students from the Illinois Institute of Technology used the intersection of 43rd and Calumet as an inspiration for a small pilot project to create positive community gathering places. Working with residents and business owners to define the community’s needs, they developed a system of portable, lightweight furniture, including game tables and storage bins, as well as a community message board that invites debate about the future of the neighborhood. Residents continue to use the furniture, and the project spurred a community-led cleanup of the most derelict of the corner lots.
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Fast Track (2012) ludic Location Authors
installation
interactivity
Nikola-Lenivets, Russia Maarja Kask, Karli Luik & Ralf Lõoke
(Salto Architects) source
goo.gl/72aJFk (2013-02-10)
“Fast track” is an integral part of park infrastructure, it is a road and an installation at the same time. It challenges the concept of infrastructure that only focuses on technical and functional aspects and tends to be ignorant to its surroundings. “Fast track” is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context. It gives the user a different experience of moving and perceiving the surroundings.
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Greenaid Seedbomb Vending Machine (2010 →) functional installation, gardening participation, exploration Los Angeles, California, USA COMMONstudio source goo.gl/893VfI (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Made from a mixture of clay, compost, and seeds, seed bombs can be tossed anonymously into derelict urban sites to green the city. COMMONstudio created the coinoperated Greenaid dispensary to make guerrilla gardening more accessible. The vending machines invite people to become casual activists, taking part in the incremental beautification of their environments – using only the loose coins in their pocket.
6emeia (2012) re-do, ludic
painting
humor
São Paulo, Brasil Leonardo Delafuente & Anderson Augusto source goo.gl/8rZYs (2014-05-13) Location Authors
Aiming at cheering up some of the streets in Sao Paolo the artistic duo managed to reinvent quite a few otherwise “gray” and unattractive urban elements, such as storm drains, light posts, manhole covers or fire hydrants. Aside from making each and every trip to work more exciting for the residents of the city, the new paintings have an important role: they manage to bring art a bit closer to the individual. Each of the painted urban elements tells a story, which passers-by can interact with.
Van Gogh Bicycle Path (2013) functional, esthetic
construction
sensory trigger
Eindhoven region, Netherlands Daan Roosegaarde, Studio Roosegaarde & Heijmans source goo.gl/8tb1HT (2013-11-01) Location Authors
The Eindhoven region, Netherlands will receive an innovative unique bicycle path and the first of its kind in the world. The 600 metres long bicycle path runs where Vincent van Gogh lived and will have a unique design comprising thousands of sparkling stones, a modern interpretation of Vincent van Gogh cultural heritage. The light stones will be used to create patterns in the path that will charge during the day and emit light during the evening, thus creating an interplay of light and poetry.
Thirst (2013) landmark
sculpture
79 critique
Austin, Texas, USA Women and Their Work Gallery, Beili Liu, Norma Yancey, Emily Little & Cassie Bergstrom source goo.gl/9auUW5 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
This temporary public art project was created to commemorate the loss of 300 million trees that died due to the droughts that plagued Texas. The project aimed to call attention to the urgency of the water crisis. It consisted of two site-specific installations. The Tree, an iconic symbol of loss of life – a drought-killed Cedar Elm that was excavated and painted white, and placed in the middle of Lady Bird Lake. In the Prayer Flag installation, inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, 14 000 white cotton flags, each with an iconic image of a drought-killed tree, surround a loop around the lake.
Doorways to Potential (2013) social
event, installation
critique
Henley Beach, Australia Andrew Baines source goo.gl/A12q3x (2014-05-05) Location Author
The performance/installation included suited volunteers the likes of politician Alexander Downer, Iconic TV personality Jane Doyle plus numerous luminaries from varied fields. The event symbolically highlighted the work of international charity Common Ground, based in New York (and now flourishing throughout Australia) that takes the homeless off the streets, sets them up in a unit and then assists them to achieve their professional goals.
Notes for Anyone (2011) social
installation
dialogue, critique
Chicago, Illinois, USA Michael Pecirno source goo.gl/A4hUov (2014-05-21) Location Author
Notes for Anyone attempts to reclaim a tiny percentage of our shared visual field to spread messages of encouragement and love. Describing his work as “guerilla positivity,” Pecirno started by attaching posters with messages such as “I’m Proud of You” and “Everyone Matters” to street lamps and parking signs in Chicago’s Wicker Park. Following suit with fellow Chicago artist Matthew Hoffman’s well-known You Are Beautiful project, which started as a small sticker campaign and grew into murals and art installations around the world, Notes for Anyone has spread quickly. 80
Depave (2007 →) re-do
gardening
participation, sensory trigger
Portland, Oregon, USA Depave source goo.gl/aCwgVC (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Depave founder Arif Khan and 147 volunteers transformed an under-utilized asphalt lot into the Fargo Forest Gardens, a community garden. The nonprofit will mobilize workers to remove impervious paving for anyone who asks; past depavings have included school playgrounds, businesses’ parking lots, and residents’ driveways, amounting to 100,000 square feet of asphalt that is no longer contributing to the negative effects of polluted stormwater runoff. Depave also helps in the process of replacing these spaces with native-plant gardens.
Pedestrian Timeline (2008) social
painting
exploration
New York City, New York, USA Candy Chang source goo.gl/AgGyz1 (2014-05-23) Location Author
To bring local history to the streets, Candy Chang stenciled 20 landmark events in the history of Governors Island along a path on Governors Island. As visitors walk along the path, they can learn about the area while enjoying a leisurely stroll. Part of the Figment public art event.
LABPLATZ: the Dance Floor (2012) re-do furniture, event dialogue Berlin, Germany Rachel Smith, Stiftung Freizeit & Kirsten Storz source goo.gl/aH5DNB (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Parking spaces are for cars – at least until now. What else could happen in the space where a car parks? What about... a dance floor!? The authors invited friends and neighbors to share their ideas and join them in a day of transforming parking spaces.
Syn-oikia Pittaki (2012) social furniture participation Athens, Greece Imagine the City & Beforelight source goo.gl/aiKQAC (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The light instalation at Pittaki street was part of a wider project called “Synoikia” – that means neighborhood in Greek. People of Athens were invited and mobilized to donate their old lighting fixtures for the creation of the installation, while murals were painted along the walls of the street.
Street Wars (2008) ludic
installation
humor, exploration
Madrid, Spain SpY source goo.gl/aVQnHO (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Intervention with light sticks over urban traffic control arrows. SpY is an urban artist whose first endeavors date back to the mid-eighties. Shortly after, already a national reference as a graffiti artist, he started to explore other forms of artistic communication in the street. His work involves the appropiation urban elements through transformation or replication, commentary on urban reality, and the interference in its communicative codes.
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Power House (2009 →) re-do
construction, technology
dialogue
Detroit, Michigan, USA Design 99 source goo.gl/aWZwOL (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Power House encourages residents to turn abandoned homes into sculptures that double as supply sources of off-the-grid energy. Design 99 transformed a modest 1923 wood-frame house into “a test lab of sorts for ideas and methods, low and high tech building systems, and a point of conversation for the entire community.” It is a demonstration home for sustainable systems, a model for long-term economic investment, a bright spot in the struggling neighborhood, and a site for knowledge sharing on solar and wind power technologies.
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Neighborland (2011 →) social
technology
dialogue
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA & elsewhere Candy Chang source goo.gl/az2ed (2014-05-23) Location Author
To help provide tools for collaboration, Dan Parham, Tee Parham, and Candy Chang started Neighborland. Organizations can ask questions to gather feedback from their community about particular places and pair the online page with signs in public space. Each idea submitted online has a dedicated page where people can share knowledge, updates, resources, or more around that idea. With support from Tulane University, they launched a basic site in New Orleans in the summer of 2011 and have now made it available to use everywhere in the U.S.
Piano Staircase ludic technology sensory trigger Stockholm, Sweden The Fun Theory by Volkswagen source goo.gl/bbfE (2012-10-26) Location Authors
Making yourself take the stairs while you have a possibility of using an elevator is quite rare nowdays, but when a fun way of using the stairs is introduced the odds change! The team from the Fun Theory made the Odenplan subway station a fun place to visit.
Perikleous Street esthetic, re-do
furniture, painting
conviviality
Athens, Greece Atenistas source goo.gl/Blwpeo (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The playful Perikleous Street public intervention marries beautification with community engagement to transform a formerly neglected alley into a pleasant public space. The street was once a space inundated with trash, a dark and unwelcoming passageway, a dilapidated façade for graffiti, and a neglected piece of the city of Athens, Greece but now stands as a prime example of urban revitalization. The newly redesigned creates a welcoming space and stands as a product of community collaboration.
596 Acres (2011 →) re-do Location
gardening, technology
83 participation
Brooklyn, New York, USA
various authors source
goo.gl/bRZ4H9 (2014-05-21)
A multidisciplinary group (including a programmer, designer, and artists) formed 596 Acres to encourage communities to re-envision the possibilities for the vacant lots in their own backyards. The name refers to the quantity of vacant city-owned land in Brooklyn, which the group catalogued, mapped, and printed on a poster that reads “Find the lot in your life. Contact the owner. Work out a deal. Grow something. We can help.” They hung the posters on hundreds of lots, prompting locals to action. Their interactive online map, combined with educational workshops, “labeling walks,” and more, have made 596 a valuable community resource.
Snow Drawings (2009) esthetic painting sensory trigger Colorado, USA Sonja Hinrichsen source goo.gl/bTRI8c (2014-05-15) Location Author
Sonja created her first Snow Drawings during an Artist Residency in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in February/ March/April 2009. They started out of play during snowshoe walks and gradually evolved into an arts project over the course of her 3-month artist residency.
Wish Pavilion (2011) social
event
participation
Amsterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/BzxNS (2012-11-10) Location Authors
The wish pavilion is conceived as a 24 hour freedom-wish machine where individuals are invited to communicate among themselves and the public as well. 5000 people started building this freedom manifesto by writing down their personal wish on a ribbon and attaching it to one of 5000 balloons that were then released in the air and shared with the world.
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Bunchy Carter Park for the People (2009) social
installation
critique
Los Angeles, USA Department of DIY source goo.gl/C9sfcj (2014-05-21) Location Authors
One afternoon, an official-looking declaration appeared on a construction fence in downtown LA. The sign announced the impending construction of a “park for the people” in honor of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, a 1960s activist and Black Panther Party leader. It was actually a provocation by a team of activists who cite the “Situationists, Yes Men, and anarchists everywhere” as their inspiration. Days later the sign was removed, but this provocation raised questions about what people really want and need in their neighborhoods.
Invasive Species (1996) esthetic technology, sculpture exploration, critique Cape Town, South Africa Dillon Marsh source goo.gl/cA35Re (2014-05-14) Location Author
A palm tree appeared almost overnight in a suburb of Cape Town. This was supposedly one of the world’s first ever disguised cell phone tower. Since then these trees have spread across the city, the country and the rest of the world. Invasive Species explores the relationship between the environment and the disguised towers of Cape Town and its surrounds.
CDSea (2010) re-do
installation
sensory trigger
Long Knoll Field, Kilmington, UK Bruce Munro source goo.gl/caD7 (2013-02-09) Location Author
CDSea was the first of a number of self-funded installations using discarded or recycled materials, planned for Long Knoll Field, which is bisected by a public footpath making it a natural public art gallery. The designer conceives it as an inland sea reflecting light from the sun and moon. The installation was made out of discarded or recycled materials.
Plastic Garbage Guarding the Museum (2012) social
installation
critique
Switzerland Luzinterruptus source goo.gl/ccyRJZ (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The designers selected the most brightly coloured bags from over 5 000 collected from museum visitors and filled each one with air as if it were a balloon. The installation, entitled Plastic Garbage Guarding the Museum, accompanies a four-month exhibition that looks at how the culture of using and throwing away plastic bags is representative of consumer society. The illuminated bags will remain outside the museum for the duration of the show, where their colours will fade and they will become increasingly dirty.
Call Parade (2012) re-do painting sensory trigger, dialogue São Paulo, Brasil Vivo telecom company source goo.gl/cEQYj (2014-05-13) Location Authors
Brazilian telecom company Vivo sponsored a public arts project that involved 100 artists decorating and painting 100 public telephone booths around São Paulo.
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Project Pothole (2009) re-do, esthetic installation sensory trigger Paris, France Juliana Santacruz Herrera source goo.gl/CP3h82 (2014-05-13) Location Author
Artist Juliana Santacruz Herrera has taken to the streets of Paris to repair unsightly potholes and cracks with braids and braids of colorful yarn.
Flying Grass Carpet – A Landscaping Fairytale (2008)
86
ludic
furniture
conviviality
Amsterdam, Netherlands Bart Cardinaal & Nadine Roos – HUNK-design & Eddy Kaijser a.k.a. IDEddy source goo.gl/3kaBtX (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Flying Grass Carpet is a huge carpet entirely made of artificial grass. It flies over the world as a temporary landscape, to land in all kinds of places where an extension of the landscape is needed.
Idea-O-rama (2013) esthetic installation, technology humor, conviviality Montreal, Canada Turn me on source goo.gl/cYGX6c (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The idea-O-rama projec was born from the initiative of designers to create a unique winter atmosphere and conversation on the Avenue. A festive and bright walk unfolds through bubbles borrowed from the world of comics. Inspired by this form which has now become the icon of the message and discussion, the designers transformed it into three-dimensional backlit objects. The lights are meant to induce “a new kind of dialogue that will ‘talk to’ the perspective of the Avenue.”
Table Cloth (2010) social
furniture
humor
Los Angeles, USA Ball-Nogues Studio in collaboration with UCLA Architecture and Urban Design students source goo.gl/Czsku9 (2014-05-05) Location Authors
“Table Cloth” is comprised of hundreds of individual low, coffee-style tables and three-legged stools. The tables and stools link together collectively to create a “fabric” that hangs from the east wall of the courtyard. When it meets the ground, “Table Cloth” unrolls to form an intimate in-theround performance area. The audience can sit on the tables and stools within this area. “Tables are places for social interaction,” Ball said.
Field Guide to Phytoremediation (2011 →) re-do
gardening
participation
Bronx, New York, USA & elsewhere Youarethecity source goo.gl/D1xd85 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
According to the New York Department of City Planning, more than 6% of the city’s land is vacant, adding up to approximately 11 700 acres of underutilized land. Many of these lots are plagued with contaminated soil as a result of previous constructions and industrial uses. To educate property owners about how they can initiate cost-effective toxic clean up, architect and planner Kaja Kühl launched the Field Lab, an experimental garden where she tests and demonstrates DIY brownfield remediation techniques.
The Geode Street Art Project (2013) ludic
installation
sensory trigger, humor
Los Angeles, California, USA Paige Smith source goo.gl/dA9urb (2014-05-16) Location Author
The project completes the cityscape with a collection of crystalline-shaped geodes made out of paper. “Forming” in places where bricks used to be or in cracks showing the passage of time in our cities, these 3D paper gems have the necessary property of turning heads. The finished shapes represent geodes, crystal, or any mineral formation that you would normally find in nature, now in our planned out cities. A parallel aspect of these “geodes” in nature and in the city is they are always unexpected treasures. You generally happen upon them during your adventures or casual interaction with the environment.
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Better Block (2010 →) social
furniture, event
conviviality
Dallas, Texas & elsewhere Team Better Block source goo.gl/DLG1UB (2014-05-21) Location Authors
What makes some city streets thrive, while mere blocks away, others flounder? Activists Jason Roberts and Andrew Howard in Dallas wanted to propose some answers, so in 2010, they transformed a blighted street into a “better block” for 24 hours – with bike lanes, sidewalk cafes, food stalls, and other amenities. A Better Block was born. These “living charrettes” demonstrate that obsolete zoning or commerce restrictions often pose obstacles to such things as outdoor seating or music, and encourage communities to actively participate in the shaping of their own neighborhoods. 88
Passage X (2012) re-do
construction, event
exploration
Tbilisi, Georgia Studio BASAR source goo.gl/dLrsqx (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The Passage X is a temporary passage, a double of an existing passage built as a secondary structure that will support new possibilities and provoke new ways of interaction bellow the city. For example: for three days, an end of a passage in Tbilisi has functioned as a wood workshop where they recycled euro-pallets that traveled the world. Passage X is a versatile and unfinished structure, meant for different and unclear purposes: in between a shop and a passageway, a gallery and a hallway, the Passage X is a place in continuous transit and for temporary rest, where exhibit, commerce or gathering can take place.
Pallet Gardening (2011) re-do gardening participation Canmore, Canada Canmore Community Gardening Society source goo.gl/dvoxGh (2013-01-29) Location Authors
Incorporating a variety of recycled materials, a group of enthusiasts made a vertical garden. Easy to use and grow, this element can contribute to activation of small urban spaces and raise environment consciousness.
Stairway Cinema (2012) social, cultural
installation
exploration
Auckland, New Zeland OH.NO.SUMO source goo.gl/ZJs9w (2012-10-27) Location Authors
The design collective OH.NO.SUMO captured an inspirational yet forgotten sight in Auckland for their experimental attempt to restore social interaction among the local community, especially at the bus stops and launderettes nearby. They designed a small outdoor cinema at the base of a few steps where the locals can gather, interact and enjoy short movies continuously shared through social media. It was designed as a part of St PAUL ST GALLERY’s Curatorial Season 2012.
Art Attacks
89
ludic installation sensory trigger Manchester, UK Filthy Luker source goo.gl/A4lR3v (2014-05-13) location Authors
One purpose of street art is to make urban landscapes less predictable and wrench passersbys from their day dreams.The author’s giant inflatable tentacles, floating pencils and cartoon eyes may lack the sophistication of complex murals, optical illusions or the just plain beautiful paintings found on walls around the world, but you can’t deny his ‘Art Attacks’ are a lot of fun.
The Sequence (2008) social
sculpture
sensory trigger, interactivity
Brussels, Belgium Arne Quinze source goo.gl/e8Y7BI (2014-05-05) Location Author
In the words of the author of The Sequence for the Festival of Politics at the Flemish Parliament Quinze: “The Sequence bridges the communication gap between people and generates movement in the city.” It gives people a moment to reset their minds and think about what’s going on in those two buildings. The physical connection between neighbors, the Flemish Parliament and the House of Flemish Representatives reflects the possible connection between all neighbors in Brussels. Cross-culture connections, a connection with Europe, its diversity and entity.
Lebanon Would Be Better If‌ (2011) social
painting
dialogue
Lebanon Karim Badra source goo.gl/EBPLOl (2014-05-05) Location Author
Interactive grafitty on the city wall in Lebanon calls for positive impressions of a better city, written by people passing by.
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3013 Installation (2011) landmark Location
sculpture
sensory trigger
London, UK
Multiple authors source
goo.gl/EcWYzJ (2014-05-05)
In a thousand years, London will be saturated. Constrained by the green belt around it and freed from restrictions on building skyscrapers, the city will grow inwards and upwards. Within this scenario of extreme density, the authors imagined how public space could evolve and adapt to smaller, vertical sites. The unit developed a sequence of skins to connect the upper terrace and lower courtyard. The surfaces were formed from plywood strips cut from salvaged exhibition panels. This installation revealed the hidden relationships between different levels of the building, creating temporary shelters and flexible gathering points.
Bench 1000 cm (2012) esthetic, functional
furniture
exploration
Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia Model Art Studio in collaboration with Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad source goo.gl/YRjgTV (2013-02-11) Location Authors
The project was developed as part of a research on the impact of architectural installations and interventions in public space. It is said to be an experimental spatial installation/ street furniture, primarily made for public open spaces as a utilitarian object, but also as a specific spatial object, visually dominating the area.
IBM – Smart Ideas for Smarter Cities (2013) esthetic, functional sensory trigger
furniture
IBM goo.gl/ElBocT (2014-05-05)
Authors source
The IBM brand made a great campaign called People For Smarter Cities, a project offering users to exchange ideas on the city of tomorrow. A series of billboards has been devised to provide a use for it, offering passersby to sit or shelter.
Beach Murals landmark painting sensory trigger San Francisco, California, USA Andreas Amador source goo.gl/ELLvu (2014-05-14) Location Author
With a rake as his only tool, San Francisco based artist Andreas Amador creates large scale sand paintings primarily on beaches along the California coast. Andreas usually waits for a full moon to make sure the ocean’s tides are low enough for him to complete his designs before they’re permanently washed away.
City is a Playground (2012) re-do, ludic installation exploration, sensory trigger Strasbourg, France Florian Rivière source goo.gl/enbp9t (2013-01-30) Location Author
‘’City is a Playground’’ subverts our daily routines by turning familiar urban infrastructures and markings into new sites for fun and play. Rivière’s interpretations draw us on childhood games, subconscious suggestions, and days spent dreaming and re-imagining different ways to engage with the city. Using materials from the street, temporary graffiti methods, duct tape and found objects, Rivière’s city markings turn the city into an urban, physical game board.
91
Lego Bridge (2010) re-do
painting
humor
Wuppertal, Germany Megx source goo.gl/EqeQ0 (2014-05-16) Location Authors
In Wuppertal, Germany, the underside of a bridge was painted by German street artist Megx in a playful Legoinspired pattern showcasing red, yellow, green and blue building blocks, with a large darker green platform on top. Martin Meuwold – by his real name – transformed the old train overpass with the help of a construction team’s supervision. It took 4 weeks to complete the 250 square meter project, but the results brighten up the street below the bridge that used to be a train rail but is now a pedestrian and bicycle path. (tekst preuzet sa Freshome)
92
Pop Up Beer Garden re-do
event, furniture
conviviality, dialogue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Groundswell Design Group source goo.gl/f4pLJB (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Groundswell Design Group designed a “pop-up” garden which transformed a vacant lot on Philadelphia’s Broad Street, into a vibrant community space. Over a dozen mature Locust trees and hundreds of native perennials were staged to provide shade and comfort for visitors. Repurposed shipping containers were moved into place and retrofitted to serve food and beverages. Vintage metal chairs, a sculptural seating wall constructed from old shipping pallets and strings of market lights also added a unique character to this former parking lot.
The Generator (2009/2010) functional
furniture
conviviality
Bucharest, Romania Studio BASAR source goo.gl/F9Psep (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The Generator of Public Space is a multi-purpose, modular, OSB object, with a temporary life, but with possibilities of relocation within the precincts of the block. The activity concentrator functioned both as a piece of urban furniture with multiple uses (chess table, bench, pedestal, skateboard ramp), attracting the children who climb it or make drawings on it, and the young people after night fall, or the employees of the bank during their smoke break, but also functioning as a red speaking tube promoting the Studios next project.
The Floating Illuminated Telephone Number (2013) social
technology
interactivity
London, UK Paul Cocksedge source goo.gl/Fi6TLj (2014-05-05) Location Author
The author invites Londoners to phone [the number] and as soon as it rings it begins to flash and they are in direct contact with the piece. While the installation was in place during last year’s London Design Festival, anyone could dial the number and the voice of actress Joanna Lumley would answer, inviting the caller to text “smile” to the five digit number that appeared from the original. She explained that texting gives one pound to a children’s charity. The donation triggers a neon smile that fills the street.
Color Jam (2012) landmark
painting
93 exploration
Chicago, Illinois, USA Jessica Stockholder source goo.gl/fqZtst (2014-05-21) Location Author
The piece celebrates and demands that the evocative surface of this Chicago street corner be expanded. The corner is canvas, stage, pedestal, and frame against which the public can view a parade of shifting color relationships.” ‘Color Jam’ is part of art loop, an award-winning series that activates the loop with contemporary art. Color jam’ invites the public to participate in a series of programs—or jams—taking the form of concerts, talks, and happenings throughout the loop. In addition, several loop businesses are offering color jam-themed specials, ranging from color-tinis to jammin’ hotel discounts.
Territory (2012) social, re-do
event, furniture
participation
Chicago, Illinois, USA Museum of Contemporary Phenomena source goo.gl/fwGki2 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
In a vacant storefront, Museum of Contemporary Phenomena (MCP) conducted a series of hands-on workshops addressing the design of safe spaces. Thirty teens took part, learning about the complete design process—interviewing neighbors, mapping sites, brainstorming ideas, developing concepts, presenting them to the community, and selecting an idea to pursue at full scale. Their final project was the transformation of a parking lot into a lively place, replete with benches, flower planters, a climbing wall, and skateboard ramps which the teens built themselves.
People Changing Places (2009) social
installation, event
dialogue
York, UK DSDHA source goo.gl/g422pZ (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The collaboration that turned a city square into a giant interactive performance and forum for changing public spaces. The team transformed the square with an installation of over 1,000 orange boxes, and featured a team of performers and interactive sound and light installations. The general public was then invited to enter the huge orange gateway, interact with performers, draw with light, and, offer their views on public spaces in York.
94
Walk Raleigh: Guerrilla Wayfinding (2012) functional
installation
exploration
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA CityFabric source goo.gl/g7VbZP (2014-05-21) Location Authors
The author hung 27 signs at three major Raleigh intersections, each with a directional arrow, a count of how many “minutes by foot” are necessary to reach a destination, and a QR code for more information. Though the signs were removed within days of being posted, overwhelming support from the local community led the Raleigh City Council to reinstate Walk Raleigh as an official pilot project, promoting a healthier and safer pedestrian environment in the city.
Living Walls (2010) re-do
painting
humor, critique
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia & elsewhere Nikita Nomerz source goo.gl/GEkpSr (2014-05-16) Location Author
In his series titled ‘Living Walls’, a graffiti and street artist Nikita Nomerz brings derelict buildings to life with his whimsical characters. In an interview with The Telegraph, Nomerz remarks: “I started in school with classic hip hop graffiti but became more interested in street art and began all sorts of experiments. Now basically I like to play with space and objects. I am inspired by the place itself. I love watching the city and finding an interesting point. Usually I do not spend so much time to create one work, sometimes less than an hour. But it all depends on the size of the object and my ideas.”
Catwalk (2013) ludic
furniture
humor
Vienna, Austria PPAG architects source goo.gl/gfgFKK (2014-05-05) Location Authors
During the Summer of Fashion 2012 in Vienna (Austria) PPAG architects set a red Catwalk in the middle of MuseumsQuartier, which functioned as a long winding bench and was a device to turn even simple passers-by into models.
Tape / Outdoor
95
ludic painting sensory trigger Long Island, USA & elsewhere Aakash Nihalani source goo.gl/GHEB (2014-05-13) Location Author
What started out an accidental exercise with a single roll of painter’s tape, is now the medium that artist Aakash Nihalani uses for his geometric, trompe l’oeil forms on sidewalks and public surfaces.
Imagination Playground (2010 →) ludic
installation
interactivity
Manhattan, New York, USA & elsewhere Rockwell Group source goo.gl/gHWvKZ (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Inspired by Froebel blocks and adventure playgrounds, the Imagination Playground features a wide range of elements that allows children to create their own environments and their own course of play. A more portable, scalable version – packed into a cart or box – that can quickly transform small, unused spaces into dynamic playgrounds was also created after the success of the first edition.
Dispatchwork (2007) ludic, re-do
installation
humor
Bocchignano, Italy & worldwide Jan Vormann source goo.gl/GLzDkv (2013-02-10) Location Author
Seeking to improve the appearance of public spaces in different ways, in terms of what is considered improvement. Dispatchwork aims to seal fissures in broken walls worldwide, completing the material compilation in urban constructing and adding color to the urban greyscales, by inserting a very basic construction-material: Plastic Construction Bricks (PCBs).
96
Mobile Dumpster Pools (2009 →) re-do, functional
construction
humor, conviviality
New York City, New York, USA Macro Sea source goo.gl/GM3wVv (2014-05-21) Location Authors
The dumpster is a ubiquitous object in any city, but swimming pools? Not so common. Brooklyn-based real estate development group, Macro Sea, conceived of Dumpster Pools a few hot summers ago, transforming a junkyard into a temporary “lo-fi country club,” replete with lawn chairs, cabanas, in addition to three hygienic refurbished dumpster pools. With their permanent and interim projects alike, Macro Sea is intent on energizing neglected parts of the urban landscape, favoring the use of everyday objects as building blocks for unexpected experiences.
Chair-Bombing (2011) social, re-do
furniture
conviviality
Brooklyn, New York, USA DoTank source goo.gl/gpbyl8 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
In protest against the Sit-Lie Ordinance that banned sitting or lying on sidewalks the Chair-bombing tactic involves placing homemade seating in public spaces “to improve comfort, social activity, and [their] sense of place,” in Aurash Khawarzad’s words. Khawarzad is an urban planner and leader of DoTank, a Brooklyn-based activist design collective that fashions Adirondack chairs from discarded shipping pallets. “These benches are more than places to sit,” reads a note pasted to a San Francisco bench-bomb in protest of Sit-Lie. “They are a visual resistance to the privatization of public space.”
Pop-Up Coffee Bar (2004) social
event
conviviality, dialogue
Rotterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/gu7CCR (2014-05-23) Location Authors
An entire week in summer, inhabitants of the peninsula Katendrecht could visit the ‘Cup of Comfort Café’ and enjoy a free cappuccino. The bar extended onto the square by means of an immense curtain. As soon as it appeared, the usually anonymous Deli-square transformed into a ‘place’. The bar was adorned with special cacao-sieves expressing words of love and comfort. The cacao-words onto the cappuccino-foam resulted into countless discussions. These lively chats provided valuable information about the neighbourhood and proved to be a thorough site analysis for the GP04 research that DUS was conducting on site.
Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven (2010) functional, landmark
installation
sensory trigger
London, UK London Fireworks source goo.gl/gYpOrf (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Several hundred bird boxes were carefully placed on two Ailanthus Altissima trees, aiming to provide something that both the public can enjoy and our feathery friends will use. The sculptures are reminiscent of a beehive and are clustered together along the trunk of a tree. Their design is meant to reflect the surrounding architecture, which is a combination of Georgian town houses, social housing, and the World’s End Estate that’s adjacent to one of the tree’s locations.
Pop Up Lunch (2009 →) functional, re-do
furniture
humor, conviviality
New York City, New York, USA Alexandra Pulver source goo.gl/HG9l67 (2014-05-23) Location Author
Pop Up Lunch is a collection of “mobile eating tools” that plug into ubiquitous urban elements to create instant tables and chairs. Using magnets, hooks, or strategically placed notches, Pulver’s compact, portable interventions make traffic signposts, fire hydrants, even garbage cans into temporary lunch spots. She has even found paint to be an easy accomplice, stenciling a graphic of a Thonet seatback over a water standpipe to highlight its availability as a seat.
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Bench Press (2011) functional
furniture
exploration
Brooklyn & Queens, New York, USA Brolab source goo.gl/hJeUQ8 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
In recent decades, benches started disappearing from bus stops as a way for cities to discourage homeless or loiterers. BroLab, a collaborative of artists and sculptors, created BenchPress, a modular system of temporary benches for bus stops that provided the missing comfort of seating for commuters for one day in October 2011 (as part of events organized by the Congress of Collectives at Flux Factory in Queens). Between 4:00 am and 9:00 pm, they assembled, dissembled, and relocated benches that appeared at each of the route’s 80 stops.
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Nuzzles (2014) landmark, functional
construction
humor
Siberia, Russia RAW Design source goo.gl/HKr54e (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Made from a geodesic mesh of hollow aluminium tubing and an outer layer of foam bristles – the floats you play with in swimming pools – the Nuzzles provide an inner layer of still air to keep skaters warm. Inspired by the insulating properties of fur, the designs also glow at night. Skaters are encouraged to nestle – or nuzzle – in the structures and sculpt the bristles into informal seating or standing space. “People of all ages, particularly children, were drawn to the sculptures and engaged with them in a variety of ways; jumping into them, climbing them, and nestling into them,” said Hendershott.
The Totem (2010) functional, landmark
sculpture
sensory trigger
Bucharest, Romania Studio BASAR source goo.gl/hmduuZ (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The requirements of the theme – an urban signal for the Street Delivery event, but also the special location – the former entrance to the property (the house used to be a private residence, the pioneers’ centre, a bookstore, a tea house), determined an intervention of the type figurative TOTEM with a multi-purpose role. The installation object cumulated four functions: cage for a dog (a stray dog or a watch dog), a street advertising board (the original pillar and the car traffic sign already pointed to this urban need), informative plate (a signaling arrow marking the start of the Verona street’s pedestrian portion) and collective bird cribs.
Urban Origami Installation (2012) social, esthetic
installation
critique
Hong Kong, Vietnam, Paris, France Mademoiselle Maurice source goo.gl/hpfl0 (2013-02-11) Location Author
This urban installation, ephemeral and no degrading, created with hundreds of folding origami, grow up in urban space with an important visibility thanks to their size and their bright colors. This series was inspired by well known story about a girl Sadako Sasaki and dedicated to victims of post nuclear explosion events in Japan in 2011, subtly symbolizing a cry for peace in the world.
Art in Odd Places (2005) esthetic installation sensory trigger, humor Manhattan, New York, USA Ed Woodham source goo.gl/HTigiZ (2014-05-21) Location Author
AiOP works to locate the cracks in public space policies, and then co-opts that space for a month of visual and performing arts interventions each year. For AiOP, public space is social space, and artworks can be actively integrated into the exchanges that take place in this realm to inspire the popular imagination.
Guerrilla Drive-Ins (2005 →) re-do, cultural Location
event
conviviality
USA
various authors source
goo.gl/iepTA1 (2014-05-21)
The drive-in theater has largely faded from our cultural landscape, with only hundreds remaining in the U.S. Today independent groups across the country, such as Santa Cruz Guerrilla Drive-in in California and West Chester Guerrilla Drive-in in Pennsylvania, are reviving this classic pastime, motivated not only by nostalgia but by the urge to bring some life to dull outdoor spaces, such as deserted parking lots and non-descript warehouse districts. The films are almost always free, with schedules and locations posted on websites, bringing neighbors together in a way that Netflix and iTunes cannot.
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Building Projections (1970s →) re-do Location
technology
sensory trigger
Worldwide
various authors source
goo.gl/IfiWBY (2014-05-23)
New technology has reinvigorated the potential of enlivening a public space by projecting moving images onto static buildings. For example, a drab wall is electrified by a dazzling light display triggered by passing car traffic, or passersby’s text messages replace a classical façade’s carved inscription with citizen proclamations. Architects have been experimenting with programmable façades for years, and dozens of cities worldwide host Nuit Blanches, all-night festivals featuring a range of illuminating public interventions.
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Welcome (2011) re-do
painting
exploration
Berlin, Germany Inés Aubert & Rubén Jódar source goo.gl/iHML2r (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Some public spaces of our cities have become invisible, absorved by the urbanity.We wonder what could actually happen, in places like this. This space under the bridge was already like a room, with a roof, a different pavement, an entrace door and the right size. Feeling its domestic atmosphere, we thought it just needed to be furnished. Enter this urban oasis, feel at home.. and don´t forget to close the door. Welcome.
Guerrilla Grafters (2011 →) re-do
gardening
sensory trigger
San Francisco, California, USA Guerrilla Grafters source goo.gl/ikvNi1 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Guerrilla Grafters is a grassroots group that sees a missed opportunity for cities to provide a peach or a pear to anyone strolling by. Their objective is to restore sterile city trees into fruit-bearers by grafting branches from fertile trees. The project might not resolve food scarcity, but it helps foster, in their words, “a habitat that sustains us.” So far the group has grafted about 50 trees in neighborhoods where they identify locals to take stewardship of the trees and their harvest.
Dalston House (2013) ludic
construction
humor
London, UK Leandro Erlich source goo.gl/ZkHJ9O (2014-05-05) Location Author
The work resembles a movie set, featuring the façade of a nineteenth-century Victorian terraced house. The life-size façade lies on the ground with a mirrored surface positioned overhead at a 45-degree angle. By sitting, standing or lying on the horizontal surface, visitors appear to be scaling or hanging off the side of the building. The façade evokes the houses that previously stood on the block. The installation extends the Barbican’s programme of Curve commissions to east London and is part of Beyond Barbican, a summer of events that includes pop-up performances, commissions and collaborations across east London.
Cut.Join.Play. (2010) functional Location Authors
furniture
participation
Little Village, Chicago, USA Iker Gil, Andrew Obendorf, Julie Michiels & Andrew
Clark (MAS studio) source goo.gl/ikzAJZ (2013-01-29)
Temporary and inexpensive installation as a response how to intervene in deprived and neglected public spaces. The sight was organized by grouping containers built with simple materials to provide different use: bench; flower, grass, herb and native planting, light box and recycling and garbage container. Street furniture that is not limited only to seating but also provides various use of space and encourages community participation.
Streetpong ludic
technology
humor
Hildesheim, Germany Sandro Engel, Holger Michel & Amelie Künzler source goo.gl/IRlqHD (2014-05-23) Location Authors
StreetPong is a concept about playful urban interactions. The starting point was the problem of waiting for a long time at pedestrian traffic lights. StreetPong can be played during the red phase at traffic light on a touchscreen display. The opponent can be anyone on the other side of the street who is also waiting to cross the street. Looking at each other across the street and engaging in a game creates contact. Thus StreetPong provides a platform for communication and interaction among people of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
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Stairway Stories (2011 →) re-do
technology, event
conviviality
New York City, New York, USA Design That Moves You source goo.gl/iSLQWl (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Would you forego the elevator if climbing stairs promised a great story? That’s what industrial designers Alison Uljee and Sierra Seip hope to achieve with Stairway Stories, which is a part of their larger project, Design That Moves You, aimed at combating obesity through public design interventions. Stairway Stories entices people to take the stairs, with snippets of a story adhered to ascending risers.
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KISS Popup Chapel (2011) social, re-do
construction
exploration
Manhattan, New York, USA Z-A Studio source goo.gl/IzrovP (2014-05-21) Location Authors
To celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York state, social networking hub Architizer and weddingplanning website TheKnot.com sponsored a competition to create a temporary chapel to be installed in Central Park. Architect Guy Zucker describes KISS as an allegory for marriage, “two separate parts, made of the same DNA but layered differently,” cardboard joined to create “a stable entity that is more than the sum of its parts” – an allegory for marriage. Twenty-four couples were married in the chapel.
Mirror House (2004 / 2006 / 2012) ludic
sculpture
humor
Paris, France, Japan & Ukraine Leandro Erlich source goo.gl/j1p2Fw (2014-05-15) Location Author
Artist Leandro Erlich made a house which is puzzling at first glance. Turns out, it is intelligently designed optical illusion. Resembling a theatre set, members of the public are encouraged to lie horizontally on the ground with mirrors positioned overhead. At an angle so that you can fool around and pretend you’re falling out of the window, climb on the roof.
Edible Wall (2009 →) social
gardening
participation, income
Bronx, New York, USA Green Bronx Machine source goo.gl/zZQIij (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Local high school teacher Stephen Ritz came up with the idea of using gardening to engage his troubled students. As the students’ in-class farm flourished, so did their academic performance: Daily attendance jumped from 40 to 93%, while 25,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables have gone into school lunches or have been sold to community members. Green Living Technologies developed the mobile growing walls that enable Ritz’s team to grow vertical farms in even the smallest classrooms, or on rooftops, side lots, subway canopies, public buildings.
The People’s Kitchen (2011)
social gastronomy, event participation Innsbruck, Austria Stiftung Freizeit source goo.gl/JAvcvi (2014-05-05) Location Authors
As part of the city invited potential 2011 “The People’s Kitchen” a project of the Stiftung Freizeit for eating and sharing, all in one. In the forecourt of the Ferdinandeum the prepared pintxos were not sold, but exchanged for a personal value of the passers-by.
Psychylustro (2014) esthetic
painting
sensory trigger
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Katharina Grosse source goo.gl/Jg8k32 (2013-05-19) Location Author
The author is transforming the landscape of one of Philadelphia’s major transportation routes with a series of seven, vibrantly-colored installations along the city’s rail gateway, visible primarily to passengers aboard trains. “Psychylustro” utilizes unique spray-paint technique to spread intense color across the chosen project sites, unfolding throughout the dynamic course and covering walls, buildings and stretches of green in bold hues. Framed through the windows of the moving train, the large-scale public artwork generates a real-time landscape painting that explores shifting scale, perspective and the passage of time.
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Play Me, I’m Yours (2008) ludic
installation
participation, exploration
Worldwide Luke Jerram source goo.gl/jGstl (2014-05-23) Location Author
Located in public parks, bus shelters and train stations, markets and even ferries the pianos are available for any member of the public to play and enjoy. Who plays them and how long they remain on the streets is up to each community. Many pianos are personalised and decorated by artists or the local community. By creating a place of exchange Play Me, I’m Yours invites the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment.
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NY Street Advertising Takeover (2009) social
painting
humor, critique
New York City, New York, USA PublicAdCampaign source goo.gl/JMlhpX (2014-05-21) Location Authors
After three months of preparation, for one day Jordan Seiler, founder of PublicAdCampaign, and a team of 20 set out with military precision to hundreds of locations, where they whitewashed 20,000 square feet of illegal advertising because they were tired of dominant advertising in the urban realm. Over one hundred artists, activists, and residents then claimed this liberated space with their own artistic or personal sentiments. As a result, the city took action against the most offensive illegal advertiser.
Occupy Wall Street (2011 →) social
event
critique
Worldwide OWS Architecture Working Group, et al. source goo.gl/jS01JV (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Occupy Wall Street uses the takeover of public spaces as a means to protest economic inequality. Under the slogan “We are the 99%”, the movement quickly manifested as global “instant cities” – tent encampments complete with civic services such as first aid, canteens, and libraries that supported the needs of protesters living outdoors for weeks. In Zuccotti Park, the Screenprinters Guild created a portable system to get messages quickly onto t-shirts and banners, while Greta Hansen, a member of the OWS Architecture Working Group, led a team that developed 123 pop-up shelters using everyday materials.
Moon (2014) ludic, landmark
installation
exploration
Lausanne, Switzerland SpY source goo.gl/kDAffM (2014-05-19) Location Author
Spanish street artist SpY has lit up the sky in Lausanne, Switzerland with “Moon”, a glowing installation of a crescent lunar slice in its first quarter that pierces the landscape. Bringing a piece of the urban scene in to the whimsical artwork, an industrial crane holds up the luminaire, suspending it above the Swiss city. The artificial moon encourages public participation, asking residents to look to the skies and transforming the night sky into a vibrant beacon for the town and the plaza below.
Manifest Destiny! (2012) social, landmark
installation
critique
San Francisco, USA Mark Reigelman in collaboration with Jenny Chapman & Paul Endres source goo.gl/KgEpKv (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Manifest Destiny! is a temporary rustic cabin occupying one of the last remaining unclaimed spaces of downtown San Francisco—above and between other properties. Using a 19th-century architectural style and vintage building materials, the structure is both homage to the romantic spirit of the Western Myth and a commentary on the arrogance of Westward expansion. The interior space of the tiny house can be seen day and night through the curtained windows, a lonely beacon in the city’s dense landscape, and an incongruous, haunting vision from below.
Come Out & Play Festival (2006 →) ludic
event
participation
New York City & San Francisco, USA goo.gl/kGOlNO (2014-05-21)
Location source
Transforming cities from concrete jungles into jungle gyms, the Come Out & Play Festival reclaims space through free, public street games. Annual weekend-long events in New York and San Francisco provide forums for new types of play and unusual interaction with fellow urbanites. Games range from dodgeball and large-scale Battleship to “psychogeographic experiments,” and largely attract an under-40, media-savvy crowd. In future, co-founder Greg Trefry hopes to host games that encourage more spontaneous drop-in participation, and as always, he wants to bring playfulness back to the public realm.
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Tree Library (2012) cultural, re-do
furniture
participation
Paris, France Florian Rivière source goo.gl/kk55i (2013-01-29) Location Author
The idea behind this urban intervention was to demonstrate how interventions in the public space can be done by creative use of recycled material. Little street library encourages sharing books between random passengers. This project at the same time increases public awareness of engaging people into active use of public space.
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Meubles EPAL (2011) re-do
furniture
participation
Strasbourg, France Florian Rivière source goo.gl/kk55i (2013-01-29) Location Author
Making street furniture out of recycled wooden pallets isn’t that unfamiliar, not even new. But creative and detailed ‘’do it yourself’’ instructions can motivate people to try it out. Small interventions in public space inspired by hacker & DIY culture encourage citizens to reinvent and divert used wooden structure allowing them to reclaim their urban environment. Any resemblance is intentional.
Passage, Paper Lights (2013) functional
installation
sensory trigger
San Luis Potosí, Mexico Ivan Juarez, Elva Gonzalez & Roberto Gárate Ferretiz source goo.gl/km7iYI (2014-05-05) Location Authors
This site specific intervention is conceived specifically for the public space that is part of The Museum of Contemporary Art, reflecting on the original function and meaning of the building – a place of letters and papers, a place of encounters and personal stories. The intervention uses paper cutting, this great handmade craft tradition in Mexico. A series of pieces suspended between the urban space and sunlight, become membranes that filter natural light, creating a path of lights and shadows. The viewers experience, through the journey of the passage, different ways of approaching and perceiving the building and its relation to the city
Skipping Only Zones (2011 →) social
installation
conviviality
Brooklyn, New York, USA Sierra Seip & Alison Uljee source goo.gl/koSmb4 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Bent on breaking up the monotony of rote passage by introducing a little fun, Sierra Seip and Alison Uljee created Skipping Only Zones, with signs that riff off the standard pedestrian-crossing sign installed at various crosswalks, sidewalks, and pedestrian paths throughout New York City. The designers were heartened to see people follow their sign’s prompt, goofily skipping across streets or bonding with strangers over a funny, shared moment. Skipping Only Zones is part of a larger project, Design That Moves You, a series of urban interventions that uses fun as a motivator for increased physical activity and social interaction.
Fra.Biancoshock Street Art esthetic Author source
installation, painting
humor
Fra.Biancoshock goo.gl/KUJvz7 (2014-05-23)
Milan-based artist Fra.Biancoshock really knows how to grab your attention. Using the ‘urban jungle as his canvas, the mysterious artist creates site-specific installations that are at times humorous or startling, but always clever and imaginative’. For example, old tires are given new life to form Loch Ness Monster scenes in back alley puddles, trash cans are transformed into wishing wells, and crumbling walls are patched up with giant-sized bandages.
The Urban Living Room (2012) esthetic furniture conviviality Rotterdam, Netherlands Eddy Kaiser source goo.gl/veea8Q (2014-05-05) Location Author
The Urban Living Room is a small living room in public space. Completely painted blue (FYI: RAL 5015), the projects aims to give people a more homely experience in public space as well as stimulate spontaneous meetings and conversations.
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Cardboard Labyrinth (2010)
re-do installation exploration, dialogue Sao Paolo, Brasil Carlos Teixeira source goo.gl/kw2iMm (2013-02-09) Location Author
The author created modular elements made entirely from layered recycled cardboard for the 29th International Biennial in Sao Paulo. Different shapes work together to create the maze-like space. The interactive installation can be transformed into areas for rest and different events. 108
Parkower (2009) functional, re-do
furniture
dialogue
Warsaw, Poland Kompott Studio source goo.gl/KyHnxM (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The idea is to make the city space more accessible for cyclists. By the simple intervention in the existing elements of urban landscape – drilling holes in the street poles – the number of bicycle racks in the public spaces significantly increased. Poles set up by the Street Authority to prevent illegal parking are present in great numbers around the capital. The designers wanted to give them an additional function, as bicycle stands. The procedure was simple and cheap: drilling small holes in the poles, enabling the fastening of various types of anti-theft devices. This way, space taken from cars could’ve been utilised by cyclists.
Doors (2011) social technology sensory trigger Singapore Chan Hwee Chong source goo.gl/l5AC6T (2013-11-01) Location Author
“Doors” is an art movement inspired by people who face insurmountable problems in life. The idea is to project their ‘doors’ onto roadblocks, and jolt people into thinking: Instead of hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel, why not let us carry our own lights, and create our own doors?
ChainlinkGREEN (2011) re-do
construction
conviviality
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA International Design Clinic source goo.gl/l65yfL (2014-05-23) Location Authors
ChainlinkGREEN is a construction system that uses materials commonly found on abandoned lots, including chainlink fencing, steel pipes, standard 90 degree angles, reclaimed lumber, and rubble, to create a lightweight and easily constructed structure that serves as an outdoor amphitheater/gathering space for the community. It demonstrates that affordable, accessible, inviting spaces may be created within previously overlooked landscapes.
Street Eraser (2014) ludic
installation
humor, exploration
London, UK Guus Ter Beek & Tayfun Sarier source goo.gl/l89Vr6 (2014-05-19) Location Authors
A cool new art project called “Street Eraser” reveals what it might look like if our urban surroundings could disappear, just like an image in Photoshop. London advertising professionals Guus Ter Beek and Tayfun Sarier have been plastering the city with giant stickers that reference Photoshop’s eraser tool, which expose a grey and white checkerboard pattern when an area has been erased. The design duo stated that they like the idea that there could be something hiding under the surface of everything around us.
Estonoesunsolar (2009 / 2010) re-do, social
participation, humor
Zaragoza, Spain Patrizia Di Monte & Ignacio Grávalos Lacambra source goo.gl/lgFUYP (2013-11-01) Location Authors
The initial goal was to reintegrate the unemployed back into the labour market by recruiting citizens to recycle abandoned plots of land in Zaragoza. The authors soon realised the potential to transform disused plots of land for new urban uses. The proposed use for each plot was determined by municipal district boards comprised of groups of citizens from the local community. The objective was the temporary occupation of vacant plots, offering different temporary uses in order to reach a 100% use. Vacant plots have been transformed to create children’s playgrounds, urban gardens, squares...
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Queens Boulevard Intervention (2011) social, functional
event
participation
Queens, New York, USA Planning Corps source goo.gl/LhEtFK (2014-05-21) Location Authors
In 2009, after the death of cyclist James Langergaard on Queens Boulevard, a group of urban planners committed themselves to bringing safety improvements to this autocentric thoroughfare. They formed the Planning Corps, and through monthly working sessions with activists and residents, they realized their work could have impact beyond just Queens Boulevard. This resulted in the Public Engagement Tool Kit, which breaks down everything from signal timing to congestion data, and documents precedents of broad boulevards from around the world to suggest how to more safely allocate space for cars, transit, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Yield (2014)
110
esthetic installation sensory trigger, humor Johannesburg, South Africa R1 source goo.gl/lKnl7a (2014-05-19) Location Authors
This piece is based on the common yield street sign. A street pole was set into the sidewalk, and 100 yield signs were fitted on the wall behind it. This installation project was commissioned by Johannesburg Development Agency under its urban upgrade program in the City of Johannesburg. The aim of the project was to use street art to uplift and improve the city’s alleyways.
Place au changement (2011 / 2013) re-do, social participation
construction, furniture, gardening
Saint-Etienne, France Anna Costes, Cédric Bouteiller & Olivier Ménard source goo.gl/MFcvjx (2013-11-01) Location Authors
The idea behind this project was to design a temporary public square, through plan of imaginary housings on the ground and their section on the wall, and to build it with the inhabitants in a participative process. During 2011, different types of workshops have been set up in order to encourage social exchange and reappropiration of this urban wasteland. In the period of two weeks during the Biennale Internationale Design Saint Etienne 2013, collective ETC reconsidered their foregoing design and worked on the evolution and improvement of the Place de Geant (Giant’s square).
Bushwaffle (2008) ludic
furniture
conviviality
Location Amsterdam, Netherlands, San Francisco, California, USA, Paris, France & elsewhere Authors Melissa Mogiat, Mouna Andraos & Kelsey Snook (Rebar Group) source
goo.gl/MJH3iI (2013-02-03)
Bushwaffle are playful personal inflatables that transform the urban surface from hard to soft, impersonal to intimate, businesslike to social. By placing the power to generate urban forms in the hands of the individual user, Bushwaffle invite new forms of social interaction, collaboration, improvisation and play.
Parc du Cirque (2011) re-do
sculpture, event
participation
Geneva, Switzerland Studio BASAR source goo.gl/ML1rHT (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The goal of this intervention was to build a name: to give an identity to the place that aims to survive in the public sphere after the public event is over. The chosen location was in the center of the city of Genève, a public nameless park without a clear identity. Studio BASAR emphasized the possibilities of the forgotten space trough 2 organized actions, one staging a public petition on site, about the site and the other transforming the existing fountain into a participative temporary sculpture, an engaging and provoking playground for passersby, kids and adults.
78th Street Play Street (2007 →) social, ludic
event
critique
Queens, New York, USA Jackson Heights Green Alliance source goo.gl/N5mZQX (2014-05-21) Location Authors
The Jackson Heights Green Alliance ( JHGA) has worked with the Department of Transportation over several years to close a one- block stretch of 78th Street off to cars in order to create a play space. At first, the street was closed only on odd weekends; then it was for whole summers. Now the city has agreed to close the block permanently. Overcoming neighbors’ and business’ fear of losing parking spaces, JHGA succeeded with an incremental approach that convinced residents that having more open space was worth the trade-offs.
111
Unlimited Urban Woods (2010) ludic
construction
sensory trigger
Amsterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/N8KRyL (2014-05-23) Location Authors
For one month between may 28th and June 28th, the ‘Unlimited Urban Woods’ temporary pavilion opened its doors at the Oosterdokskade, Amsterdam. A space with its own horizon, to flee the city, in the middle of town. One tree in a mirror pavilion reflected into an endless forest. You could enjoy it by yourself, or even better, together. Visitors of the New Amsterdam Public Library could disappear in an urban forest. A 4-meter high pavilion, which housed one single tree, made this possible. Mirror walls inside the temporary pavilion created the illusion of an endless forest. 112
Rittenhouse Reclaimed esthetic
gardening, construction
conviviality
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Groundswell Design group source goo.gl/nHeXKF (2014-05-23) Location Authors
To create a sociable atmosphere and lend some character to a small pocket between buildings on Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square, Groundswell looked up. Recognizing that space is at a premium, it reclaimed on-site wooden rafters to create a pergola system that could support a garden suspended in mid-air. Custom-built steel troughs filled with native Pennsylvania meadow plantings adorn the pergola’s beams.
TreeKIT (2011) re-do
technology, gardening
exploration
New York City, New York, USA TreeKIT source goo.gl/nliYaC (2014-05-21) Location Authors
In some cities, dead trees are as numerous as potholes, but get a lot less attention. For this reason, landscape architect Liz Barry and urban forester Philip Silva developed TreeKIT, a system to measure, map, and manage urban forests. Volunteers use simple site-survey- ing skills to map trees in urban areas. TreeKIT’s website features a map showing tree density block by block, and users can zoom in on trees to click for information about trunk dimension, genus, or species. The map also color-codes empty treebeds, stumps, and dead trees. This data is shared with city agencies and local tree steward organizations.
Of Bridges and Borders (2011) esthetic
painting
sensory trigger
Buenos Aires, Argentina Lang/Baumann source goo.gl/nM6Ep (2014-05-05) Location Authors
This pedestrian overpass in the lively Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires was built in the 1960s. It is an elegant construction in concrete, painted white, and its convex underside offered an intriguing canvas for a painting. A broad pattern of overlapping stripes in black and different pastel shades of color was applied to the concrete surface. Because of the arched and convex underside of the bridge, the strictly geometrical pattern appeared strangely disorted from different perspectives.
Roadsworth (2011) re-do
painting
113
critique
Montreal, Canada Peter Gibson source goo.gl/nY1LCI (2014-05-05) Location Author
Gibson began painting the streets of Montreal in the fall of 2001. Initially motivated by a desire for more bike paths in the city and a questioning of “car culture” in general, he continued to develop a language around street markings and other elements of the urban landscape using a primarily stencil based technique.
Clouds (2014) landmark
sculpture
humor
New York City, New York, USA Olaf Breuning source goo.gl/nz25me (2014-05-19) Location Author
This sculptural installation is situated overlooking the south east entrance of Central Park, amongst the soaring trees, supported by rudimentary steel beams, which are stacked like ladders leading into the sky. The six bright blue clouds are made from polished and painted aluminum, and have each been cut to mirror a hand drawing illustrated by the artist, bringing to mind the set design of a school play or child-like sketches of the sky. The vibrantly colored flat silhouettes punctuate the bustling landscape with their sense of whimsy and charm, propelling the viewer into a surreal world that seeks to accentuate the humor of everyday life.
Ekko (2012) ludic
construction
sensory trigger
Germany Thilo Frank source goo.gl/nZTtWv (2014-05-05) Location Author
A circle of concrete paving creates a continuous walkway, while 200 wooden frames with incrementally different dimensions provide the twisted structure surrounding it. Microphones are hidden within the beams and record the sounds made by everyone that steps inside. These sounds are continuously remixed by a computer and played back to create a distorted echo. Light enters the structure though the gaps between frames, creating stripes of light and shade on the interior surfaces. “The work acts as an archive of sounds and at the same time the visitors’ perception of space and presence is amplified,” explains Frank. 114
Popularise: Build Your City (2011 →) functional
technology
participation, income
Washington, D.C., USA & elsewhere Popularise: Build Your City source goo.gl/O5bmQI (2014-05-23) Location Authors
As a reaction to real estate development that’s often out of touch with local wants and needs, former developer Ben Miller created an online crowdsourcing platform called Popularise to give people a way to influence how their neighborhoods take shape. The website invites the public to suggest businesses they’d like to see occupy vacant storefronts and to offer feedback on impending projects. Builders can post descriptions and photos of projects in the works, and solicit community input. Popularise facilitates “a new way to develop authentic places” that draws from the power of the crowd.
Painting Reality (2010) ludic
painting
participation
Location Rosenthaler Platz, Berlin, Germany source goo.gl/OFPWx (2014-05-13)
A group of unknown bikers spilled about 500 liters of water-based environmentally-friendly paint on the asphalt of Berlin’s Rosenthaler Platz. Plenty of cars and their wheels, during rush hour, became the tool for this colorful guerilla art piece.
Cloud (2012) re-do
installation
participation, interactivity
Alberta, Canada Caitlind R.C. Brown & Wayne Garrett source goo.gl/OGgPmp (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Large scale interactive installation that’s made from 1,000 working lightbulbs on pullchains and an additional 5,000 made from donated burnt out lights donated by the public. The piece utilizes everyday domestic light bulbs and pull strings, re-imagining their potential to create wonder and inspire collaboration, reducing costs, and asking audiences to reconsider household items in an alternative context. During exhibition, viewers interact with CLOUD by initiating impromptu collaborations, working as a collective to turn the entire sculpture on and off.
Ballroom Luminoso (2013) re-do
sculpture
sensory trigger
Texas, USA Joe O’Connell & Blessing Hancock source goo.gl/oKqqmC (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Ballroom Luminoso is a series of six chandeliers made from custom made structural steel, custom LEDs and recycled bicycle parts. The lights project colorful silhouettes of sprockets and other pieces onto the otherwise drab cement underpass. The images in the medallions draw on the community’s agricultural history, strong Hispanic heritage, and burgeoning environmental movement. Each character playfully rides a bike acting as a metaphor for the neighborhood’s environmental progress, its concurrent ecorestoration projects, and its developing cycling culture.
The Inflato Dumpster (2014)
re-do installation critique, dialogue Location Authors
New York City, New York, USA John Locke & Joaquin Reyes
(The Department of Urban Betterment) source
goo.gl/ONfakp (2014-05-23)
As public space in New York becomes increasingly privatized and commodified, The Inflato Dumpster seeks to counter that tendency by serving as an open, engaging streetlevel structure that acts as a mobile learning laboratory.
115
TrafficCOM (2012) functional
technology
critique
New York City, New York, USA & elsewhere Aurash Khawarzad & Ted Ullrich (Tomorrow Lab) source goo.gl/oRcew4 (2014-05-21)
Location Authors
TrafficCOM is a portable, inexpensive traffic counting device that can be deployed by citizens anywhere. The data collected by the battery-operated device is uploaded and published via open-source mapping software, equipping the public with timely, accurate data that may be used to influence the planning of anything from bike lanes to street closures to parks to mass transit.
Crack Gardens (2011)
116
re-do gardening participation Los Angeles, California, USA goo.gl/OznU2l (2014-05-15)
Location source
“Crack garden” is probably giving you some interesting mental images. In reality, it refers to plant life that is squeezing up through cracks in our streets, sidewalks and parking lots against all odds. Some people are harnessing these tiny access points to soil in areas where they would otherwise not be able to garden. It’s a form of guerilla gardening, but not quite the same.
The Letter Bench (2009) functional
construction
conviviality
Bucharest, Romania Studio BASAR source goo.gl/p3Bktz (2014-05-23) Location Authors
A linear, discrete intervention, the bench is placed at the non-conflictual limit between the inaccessible legal green square and the abusive parking spot on the alley, using the existing elements: it sits on the concrete curb and is tied to the metal fence. The backrests recall an image specific to a bookstore, suggesting a rack of books viewed from the side. The structure of the bench consists of wooden planks, and the covering is made of Tego left apparent (it is a material used for concrete forms, and in this case because of its resistance to weather conditions and acts of vandalism).
Guerrilla Bike Lanes (2007 →) functional
painting
critique
Worldwide Anonymous Cyclists source goo.gl/PKd9j (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Bicycling has only recently become a serious planning consideration, and the vast majority of American city streets remain intimidating places for cyclists, despite their growing numbers. With city planners moving slowly to adapt, cycling advocates are taking matters into their own hands, painting bike lanes, share-the-lane “sharrows”, and other signage like “pass with care” posters, and even “softened” unfriendly square curbs with blobs of concrete, often under cover of night.
People Make Parks (2005 →) functional
technology
participation
New York City, New York, USA Hester St. Collaborative & Partnerships for Parks source goo.gl/PoQjmB (2014-05-23) Location Authors
PMP (People Make Parks) is a digital platform that helps communities to participate in the design of new parks in their neighborhood, clearly explaining the step-by-step process of what must happen, from advocacy and design to funding, construction, and maintenance. When citizens engage in park design, governments build better parks, and the public continues to enjoy and care for places they helped make.
The Pyramid of Garguromin (2011) re-do, functional
furniture
conviviality
Bucharest, Romania Studio BASAR source goo.gl/Pxo7TM (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Because a street can be a character that participates in urban events such as festivals and gets transformed, it exits the everyday time and it investigates the alternatives to the linear functional logic and serving the street fronts. The Pyramid of Garguromin serves a purpose as a support structure for a range of activities, as being the only seating place around the area, to a music and theater stage, playground for kids, high point for observation, photo corner or even improvised stand for the ones not officially registered as participating in the occuring festival.
117
ARTfarm (2010) esthetic, re-do participation
gardening, installation
Bronx, New York, USA AFHny Studio source goo.gl/pzYLc8 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Like so many out-of-the way corners of New York, the stepped block of East 165th Street of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx was run down, trash-ridden, and crime-heavy. AFHNY Studio thought it had the perfect makings of a new social space for the local community, with its multiple levels and landings where people might cross and gather. ARTfarm is comprised of planters fashioned from found objects like cabinet doors and carpet remains (rolled into cylinders), and the planted perennials are maintained by the locals who helped build the space. 118
Minimal Relaxation (2012) landmark, functional construction exploration, sensory trigger Shanghai, China Alvin Huang, Neil Leach, Wendy Fok, USC AAC Students: Ethan Barley, Chi Bhatia, Gabby Gertel, Ty Harrison, Luya He, Justin Kang, Michelle Kraintz, Arjun Mahesh, Nicole Stizel, Yimeng Wang, Sahar Youdai, Chaoxun Zhang, Xiaoyun Li, Xiaojin Mi, Xinyue (Amber) Ma source goo.gl/ywQOAL (2013-02-11) Location Authors
The design of this temporary installation reinterprets the traditional Chinese garden to activate the roof terrace of the MoCA Shanghai as an undulating and responsive multilayered landscape. The upper (canopy) layer simultaneously produces gradient spatial conditions and framed viewing portals which curate views of the surroundings.
Moving Forest (2008) ludic gardening participation Amsterdam, Netherlands NL Architects source goo.gl/q8xU8D (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The Moving Forest are 100 trees strapped into 100 shoppingcarts lurking around in an urban environment blocking peoples way and forcing passers to act on them. The project, called Moving Forest, was inspired by a children’s story about a forest that moves at night so people trapped in it can never escape.
Cityscope (2008) landmark construction interactivity, exploration Cologne, Germany Marco Hemmerling source goo.gl/QaivWj (2014-05-05) Location Author
The installation deals with the fragmented perception of urban spaces. The bevelling structure can be seen as an urban kaleidoscope, that reflects fragmented views on the city and composes at the same time a three-dimensional image of the surrounding facades. The radiant foil, that is applied to the outer skin of the sculpture, reflects the light in different colours. While moving around the sculpture, the images that reflect on the triangulated envelope continuously change. In that way the beholder becomes an integral part of the installation and its complex reflections.
Galloon Road Tattoo (2012) social
painting
dialogue
Chicago, Illinois, USA Steed Taylor source goo.gl/QDPYaL (2014-05-21) Location Author
The road tattoo ‘galloon’, characterized by the street artist’s signature stencil design informed by a ‘daughters and sons knots’ aesthetic, was installed at a local and national site for veneration of the U.S. military after memorial day. The artist describes the significance behind his concept: “I decided to make the piece so it reflects the location but had a uniquely personal meaning for myself and many americans. This road tattoo, ‘galloon’, honors the united states first legally out gay and lesbian troops by including their names in the piece.”
Holding Hands (2013) esthetic
painting
humor
Karlsruhe, Germany Dome source goo.gl/Qgyt4K (2014-05-05) Location Authors
These are the walls painted by German street artist Dome, who first discovered spray paint in 1995 and his works have been shown in exhibitions all over Germany and Italy since 2001. His works all have the same dark, satirical style to them – black broken up bodies detailed with simple white lines that hint at the bones underneath, heads usually covered by the head of an animal, and the animal heads all have strings coming from their bases so that we know they’re just masks. There are lots of umbrellas and keys, and most have a sense of humor that eases the lament of the central figure that seems to symbolize what we’ve lost.
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From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes (2013) ludic, social
construction
humor
Cliftonville, Margate, UK Alex Chinneck source goo.gl/qNZsOc (2014-05-05) Location Author
The designer wanted to create something that used the simple pleasures of humour, illusion and theatre to create an artwork that can be understood and enjoyed by any onlooker so he created this installation by removing the facade of a derelict detached house and replacing it with a new frontage that leaves the top storey exposed, then curves outwards so the bottom section lies flat in front of the house.
Edible Estates (2005 →)
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re-do gardening exploration, income Worldwide Fritz Haeg source goo.gl/QouHhC (2014-05-23) Location Author
Edible Estates is an ongoing initiative to replace domestic front lawns with kitchen gardens, allowing families to grow their own food. These simple, low-cost gardens promote a more productive use of the land between our homes and the street, and a closer relationship with neighbors, our food, and the natural environment.
Hypothetical Development (2010) re-do, social
installation
dialogue
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Candy Chang source goo.gl/QshRbO (2014-05-23) Location Author
Candy Chang worked with Hypothetical Development, a public art project that creates signs depicting fanciful futures for neglected buildings in New Orleans. The renderings, created by different artists, are posted directly onto the buildings they depict. To highlight her neighborhood’s need for affordable fresh produce and to pay homage to Mr. Okra and his food truck, she created this collage for a local vacant storefront. Exhibited at Beckham’s Book Shop and Du Mois Gallery.
Picnurbia (2011) functional construction, furniture conviviality, humor Vancouver, Canada Loose Affiliates source goo.gl/QwpRSJ (2013-02-11) Location Authors
Temporary landscaping project aims to address the shortage of decent public spots for urbanites to gather, relax and picnic. Picnurbia consists of a 28 meters long and 4 meters wide ‘über-picnic-blanket’, comprised of an undulating wooden structure covered with yellow artificial lawn. Nine large umbrellas create shadowed spaces for people to rest while five tables offer opportunities for picnics and events. Picnurbia offers space for people to come together, relax and enjoy the long summer days.
The Wonderful Laundromat (2011)
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re-do installation exploration Berlin, Germany Stiftung Freizeit source goo.gl/r6yTeU (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Small intervention about the use of public space: You do not have a tumble dryer? You have no garden or balcony and no Italian neighbors to stretch your clothesline across the alley? Then come to the wonderful laundromat. Treat yourself and your washing some fresh air.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (2013) landmark
construction
conviviality
London, UK Sou Fujimoto source goo.gl/RaXQVA (2014-05-05) Location Author
The Pavilion was intended as a free-flowing social space that Fujimoto described as “a transparent terrain”. The delicate structure had a lightweight and semitransparent appearance that allowed it to blend, cloud-like, into the landscape and against the classical backdrop of the gallery’s colonnaded east wing. Designed as a flexible, multi-purpose social space – with a café sited inside – visitors were encouraged to enter and interact with the Pavilion in different ways throughout its four-month tenure in London’s Kensington Gardens.
Green Graffiti esthetic
gardening, painting
dialogue
London, UK Anna Garforth source goo.gl/7yi8cM (2012-11-08) Location Author
This unusual and eco-friendly urban art form is changing the way we comprehend the very familiar form of urban expression, the graffiti. Literally breathing life into the art by using a living material like moss or grass inspired this London-based artist to express herself through a series of moss graffiti scattered all over the streets of London that put together form a verse of a poem written by her close friend.
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Jewels in the City (2012) ludic
installation
humor
Amsterdam, Netherlands Liesbet Bussche source goo.gl/RNAQLY (2014-05-13) Location Author
Belgian designer and artist Liesbet Bussche has transformed street barriers and roadblocks, throughout the streets of Amsterdam, into larger than life necklaces, earrings and charms.
Zobop (1999) esthetic installation sensory trigger Glasgow, UK Jim Lambie source goo.gl/RNhjEl (2014-05-14) Location Author
Since 1999, Glasgow-based artist Jim Lambie has used ordinary vinyl tape to transform spaces into visual wonders in his signature floor series Zobop. These labor intensive installations are meant to fill a space while still leaving it empty, creating the most colorful optical illusions.
Paint Attack Sao Paolo (2012) ludic painting, event participation Sao Paolo, Brazil group of anonymous activists source goo.gl/RprvjG (2012-10-27) Location Authors
During the Baixo Centro Festival in 2012 a group of anonymous activists, inspired by ‘Painting reality’ urban art intervention that took place in Berlin in 2010, poured several buckets of colorful paint at a big intersection and filmed it being spread over the streets of Sao Paolo by its busy traffic.
Stair Squares (2007) functional, landmark furniture exploration Borough Hall, New York, USA Mark Reigelman source goo.gl/hCxH7 (2012-11-13) Location Author
A New York-based designer elevated the very common use of public stairs as a resting place by installing temporary bright blue tables specifically designed for the front steps of Borough Hall in New York that made eating, reading and relaxing more comfortable and interesting.
DIY Urban Furniture (2011) re-do
furniture, event
participation
Strasbourg, France student proposals, Collectif ETC source goo.gl/kvnEe4 (2013-02-02) Location Authors
Urban street furniture, imagined and built with the students, is aimed to test new layouts. Students, supervised initially by the Collectif etc members, designed and built 33 modules that they installed on the former parking lot. The modules offered various uses: soccer goals, Ping-Pong table, chess or oware boards, blackboard table, washtub bass, different kinds of furniture to seat on or lie down, etc. In order to experiment several layouts students moved the modules regularly. The campus forecourt became a living space between the school and the street as a place for games, meetings, exchanges and experimentation.
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Campito (2010) functional
installation
critique
Denver, Colorado, USA M12 source goo.gl/SeFDG5 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Campito calls attention to historic and contemporary working conditions of rural immigrant workers in the American West. Redesigned Campito is a project to raise awareness about everything related to modern-day sheepherding, including contemporary food production, immigration patterns, and workers’ rights. M12 towed a typical campito through the streets of Denver, passing out posters documenting their research. “By suggesting the sheep wagon be redesigned,” explains M12 co-founder Richard Saxton, “we are admitting that the current living and working conditions of sheepherders are unacceptable.”
Book Exchange
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functional installation participation Saint- Étienne, France Nathalie Faessel, Design Didier Muller source goo.gl/smpqN3 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
This project o fan urban-library, an autonomous and free library for city dwellers was realized in SaintÉtienne as a permanent installation consisting of suspended huts in which the residents are invited to submit a book to take another.The gift of a paperback feeds sharing, free trade that promotes access to reading.
Popuphood (2011 →) social
event
conviviality, income
Oakland, California, USA Popuphood source goo.gl/SQ5UvR (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Popuphood is a nonprofit small-business incubator that aims to revitalize a neighborhood in Oakland and spark long-term economic development. Working with a landlord who agreed to provide space in vacant storefronts, co-founders of popuphood, Filley and Dominguez, recruited five complementary businesses with the promise of six months of free rent and marketing support. The project generated a lot of buzz as a new destination unique for its hyper-local approach to retail. Three of the original retailers have signed long-term leases, and the neighborhood seems on the rise.
Public Bath (2012) ludic
construction
conviviality
Bucharest, Romania Studio BASAR source goo.gl/SQV9OG (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The Public Bath was a temporary bathe place risen as a growth in the middle of a street, as a manifestation of an unlikely quotation: a swimming-pool installed in an urban context. Around the presence of water, a consolidated platform acted, besides the main attraction of a lap place, also as a meeting and stop over place on the street, public arena for concert or evening projections, but most of all the place performed as a playing ground open to all.
Amphibious Architecture (2009) ludic
technology
interactivity, dialogue
New York City, New York, USA David Benjamin & Natalie Jeremijenko source goo.gl/SSWq4B (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Though New York is surrounded by rivers, residents have little to no interaction with the water and little understanding of the ecosystem below. Amphibious Architecture allows a data-driven dialogue between humans, fish and their shared environment. Two networks of interactive tubes contain underwater sensors and display lights above. Through a text-message feature, participants can correspond with fish and receive real-time data about water quality in response. The project imagines a dynamic, participatory city in which static architecture is replaced by a kinetic and responsive built environment.
Parking Plot (2011) social
gardening, painting
critique
St. Louis, Missouri, USA Free Agents Imbert & Meijerink source goo.gl/SuDzHH (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Imbert and Meijerink, working with students in Washington University’s MLA program (which Imbert leads), devised a quick and dirty intervention: Renting a wet saw, they made two incisions into a thick, impervious asphalt parking lot, filled the strips with compost, and planted seedlings. They marked their squat “Parking Plot” in hazard yellow paint, and are monitoring the test beds to study how tough urban vegetation, encouraged to grow in unexpected places, might supplement the city’s traditional leafy canopy.
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Generator functional
furniture
participation
Location Venice, Italy, Brno, Czech Republic, Saint Nazaire, France, New York, USA, Brussels, Belgium Authors Raumlabor source goo.gl/okPwEs (2012-11-09)
Participatory and interactive experimental urban workshop that allows local communities to use their creativity and connect along the way. A workstation, necessary tools and building materials are provided as well as instructions for creating modules that can be assembled into chairs, tables, shelves, walls and shelters. The final products that are generated at the workshop are either taken home, used in assembling various structures or incorporated into public space.
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Mirror Culture (2010) re-do, landmark
installation
participation
Varna, Bulgaria Ignatov Architects source goo.gl/svoTXI (2014-05-21) Location Authors
As digital music continues to thrive, CDs are more and more a thing of the past. The little round discs were however the perfect medium for this art project. For the interactive installation, the team, along with 128 volunteers, invited residents and visitors of Varna in Bulgaria to help mount more than 6,000 used CDs onto knitted fishing net. The metallic reflections created a bright and captivating installation that hung over the entrance of the local tourist attraction Sea Garden, the city’s oldest and best known public park. The flexible material blew in the wind and created incredible refractions of moving color.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (2009) ludic
construction
exploration
China Mésarchitectures source goo.gl/SWIunL (2014-05-05) Location Authors
This piece of urban furniture, by being nomad, allows the reactivation of different public spaces. It enables inhabitants to reappropriate fragments of their city. They will both escape and dominate public space through a game of equilibrium and desequilibrium. By playing this “risky” game, and testing their own limits, two people can experience together a new perception of space, void, lightness and recover an awarness of the physical world.
No Longer Empty (2009 →) re-do, cultural
event
participation
New York City, New York, USA No Longer Empty source goo.gl/t25aF3 (2014-05-21) Location Authors
No Longer Empty brings temporary art exhibitions and programming to vacant storefronts. Seeking partnerships with landlords, No Longer Empty creates temporary cultural and educational hubs and atracts artists, community members, educators, curators, and academics. The diversity of participants drives the program’s vibrancy. Each exhibition draws curatorial inspiration from active site research and response. Executive director Naomi Hersson-Ringskog hopes to use nomadic occupation to foster longer-term change by highlighting the potential for businesses in an area and supporting community development.
Swing (2012) ludic
127
construction
interactivity
Portugal Moradavaga source goo.gl/T5MB3R (2014-05-05) Location Authors
As each swing moves back and forth, a bicycle chain attached to it turns a wheel which then turns a dynamo to activate the light below. The swings are built on a base of wooden pallets, which also hides the mechanical parts. “Based on the principle of swinging to produce electricity, Swing is also an ode to the rich industrial heritage of Guimarães, reflected in its mechanical devices and sounds evocative of the ones once produced in the factories of the city,” say the designers.
New Public Sites (2007 →) social
event
dialogue, exploration
Baltimore, Maryland, USA & elsewhere Graham Coreil-Allen source goo.gl/TbJwGW (2014-05-21) Location Author
Through a series of guided walking tours that use architecture and planning terminology in a “playful yet serious” manner, Coreil-Allen activates and informs citizens about the civic and social possibilities of underutilized spaces. Participants are given free maps of the area explored, and invited to read Coreil-Allen’s growing Typology of New Public Sites (available for free download) to learn more about his “radical pedestrianism” and “radical cartography.”
Park and Slide (2014) ludic
installation
interactivity
Bristol, England Luke Jerram source goo.gl/tCQXEx (2014-05-23) Location Author
On the 4th May 2014 this giant 95m (300ft) water slide was installed on Park Street in Bristol as part of Make Sunday Special and the Bristol Art Weekender. Enabling people to navigate the streets of their city in a new way, the slide is a simple architectural intervention and a playful response to the urban landscape. Like many of Jerram’s projects the installation requires public participation to be activated. The person on the slide becomes the performer, while spectators either side watch on. The end result is a set of collective memories and stories that people will pass on.
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Literature Versus Traffic (2012) social
installation
critique
Melbourne, Australia Luzinterruptus source goo.gl/Tisaix (2014-05-05) Location Authors
10,000 glowing books were scatterd across the ground at Federation Square in Melbourne for a lighting festival dedicated to reading. Books that were sourced from local libraries were illuminated with LED lights to emphasize the printed words. “The objective was to create a symbolic gesture in which literature took control of the streets and became the conquerer of the public space”.
Re: NEWS (2011 →) social, functional
construction
participation
San Francisco, California, USA Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum source goo.gl/tLHhof (2014-05-21) Location Authors
To enliven San Francisco’s Mid-Market District, a neighborhood with one of the highest crime rates and lowest occupancy rates in the city a proposal for simple adaptive reuse emerged – converting disused newspaper kiosks into community-focused hubs and sites for microbusinesses. Proposed new uses include a free bicycle repair station, a florist, a café, and a venue for performance art. The city agreed to lease the kiosks free of charge for the community uses.
Wake (2006) landmark
construction
critique
Shafer, Minnesota, USA Michael McGillis source goo.gl/TlIqFO (2013-02-10) Location Author
Artist Michael McGillis has been known for his nature installations with various idealogical meanings behind them. In the Franconia Sculpture park he designed a pathway enclosed on both sides by brightly painted cut logs. The installation is a commentary on humanity’s disruption of nature and is meant to resemble an opening in the earth. The work involves the industrial-scale compression of a living place (forest) into a uniform commodity (cordwood), and the structured reintegration of this commodity back into a natural place.
War Gastronomy (2012) social
gastronomy, furniture
129 dialogue
San Francisco, California, USA SanFranStudios source goo.gl/tMfWSq (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Touched by his Chinese grandmother’s tales of escaping war, and by her traditional cooking, Justin Hoover started to collect recipes from people who have been forced to move due to conflict in their home countries. At predetermined times in public places, Justin and Chris Treggiari set up their cart and served dishes along with the personal stories attached to them. Passersby could contribute their own recipes to War Gastronomy’s ever-growing archive, feeding a performance/participatory work that brings the communal experience of cooking, eating, and sharing stories to public space.
Primary Structure (2011)
ludic sculpture exploration Wanås, Sweden Jacob Dahlgren source goo.gl/TUzZt5 (2013-02-09) Location Author
Primary Structure is a playful maze of steel created by artist Jacob Dahlgren set in the serene forest for the contemporary art festival at Wanås, near Knislinge Sweden. Designed as a contemporary sculpture structure can easily be recognized and used as a place to play.
49 Workers’ Coats (2013) social
installation
dialogue
London, UK Faye Toogood source goo.gl/tvx8bN (2014-05-05) Location Author
“For me it was really about celebrating trades that have been lost in this amazing part of London which has a rich history,” says Toogood. Each of the handmade over-sized coats covered in industrial paint is labelled with the name of a trade, such as brewer, potter or puppeteer, that used to take place in the Seven Dials area of London.
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Door Stops functional, re-do installation, painting conviviality Detroit, Michigan, USA goo.gl/u5FdKU (2014-05-23)
Location source
Door Stops, a project of the Detroit Community Design Center at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning (DCDC), is a collaboration between designers, artists, riders and community residents that seeks to fill neglected public spaces with a series of seating opportunities. Created from salvaged and repurposed materials of the city, Door Stops are placed wherever there’s a need to make urban space more communal and humane, like transit stops and vacant lots.
Gecekondu Summerhouse Hotel (2009)
re-do, social
construction
conviviality, exploration
Almere, Amsterdam & Rotterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects source goo.gl/UBlG3J (2014-05-23) Location Authors
By building the hotel, illegally overnight at several locations, informal use of public space in the Netherlands was tested and questioned. The contributions of the random guests of the hotel exceeded all expectations: gardening, music performances, BBQ-restaurants, plays, children’s parties, outdoor cinema events, one day exhibitions, to name but a few. The hotel revealed the potential of unused urban space. It showed the eagerness of neighbours to contribute and utilize their immediate surroundings.
I amsterdam landmark dialogue
sculpture
Amsterdam, Netherlands Kesselskramer source goo.gl/UBv3xd (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Most city campaigns draw attention to buildings, history, or other cultural highlights. The city of Amsterdam, however, wanted a different approach. The result: a city identity campaign that celebrates Amsterdam’s citizens in all their diversity. It includes a gigantic 3D version which has become a monument, with visitors photographing themselves with the letters.
QR_Hobo_Codes (2011 →) ludic
technology
humor, dialogue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA & elsewhere Free Art & Technology (F-A-T) Lab source goo.gl/uhV4Uc (2014-05-21) Location Authors
The informal code that vagabonds developed in the 19th century to offer warnings and help each other cope with the uncertainties of nomadic life inspired the QR_Hobo_ Codes project.. F.A.T. Lab created 100 QR codes (freely downloadable lasercut-ready stencils) to provide advice and warnings to modern-day digital nomads. Codes include “vegans beware,” “hidden cameras,” and “those aren’t women.” QR_Hobo_Codes is one in a suite of what F.A.T. calls its “homebrew infoviz graffiti tools for locative and situated information display.”
The Street Store (2014) social
installation
participation
Location Cape Town, South Africa, Brussels, Belgium & Vancouver, Canada Authors Max Pazak & Kayli Levitan source goo.gl/UlCYMN (2014-05-23)
Street pop-up store where the clothes are donated, and free for those who need the most, is an idea that came from Cape Town in South Africa. Volunteers came up with the idea to design simple and multifunctional posters that simultaneously inform people about the event, collect donations, classify them and allow easy viewing and access to clothing to those in need. What they are particularly proud of is that they allow the homeless to choose clothes and shoes they want, something that for those who can not buy new things is not always possible.
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A Streetcorner Serenade for the Public Plaza (2013) social painting, furniture exploration, conviviality New York City, New York, USA local merchants and community leaders source goo.gl/UlDkNm (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Situated at New Lots Avenue, a parking lot at a nasty intersection used to be filled with prostitutes and drug dealers. In May 2013, with joint efforts between local merchants and community leaders, they looked towards New York City Department of Transportation to turn this traffic triangle into a pedestrian plaza. All it took was bringing in potted trees, seating and a bit of color, now the area is safe and used by all.
Kitchain (2009)
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social furniture, gastronomy conviviality Fribourg, Switzerland MOOV + Benedetta Maxia source goo.gl/UlDkNm (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Focusing on the ritual of cooking and eating as the motivator of socializing and exchanging ideas in public spaces, Kitchain acts not only as a cooking modular but also as a temporary installation that creates an inviting feel to a site. With infinite possibilities to the concept of a space, activities take place in and around Kitchain in order to creatively connect people with a site.
Museum of Possibilities (2012) social
installation
dialogue
Montreal, Canada Melissa Mogiat, Mouna Andraos & Kelsey Snook source goo.gl/uLmSef (2013-01-30) Location Authors
The city of Montréal came up with an exceptionally inspired solution: The Museum of Possibilities — a daylong pop-up installation inviting citizens to share their wishes and visions for the future of the space by jotting down their ideas on pieces of paper and attaching them to colorful balloons. More than a mere art installation, The Museum of Possibilities became a playful yet actionable poll of public opinion, turning the possibilities into probabilities. People can vote on the ideas with stickers, collectively choosing the best visions for their shared space.
By the City/For the City (2011) social
technology
participation
New York City, New York, USA Institute for Urban Design source goo.gl/UU4QKV (2014-05-21) Location Authors
By the City/For the City turns the traditional design competition process on its ear by sourcing the sites and situations to be addressed directly from the people, rather than choosing a site and “parachuting in.” A digital public input site, built on Project for Public Spaces’ PlaceMap, asked people to complete the phrase “Wouldn’t it be great if… “ From this, 600 ideas were generated and analyzed, and an open call brought in 150 proposals by designers who proposed responses to the ideas that intrigued them most. The resulting publication, An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York, provides a snapshot of possible futures.
Nest Architectures (2006) landmark
installation
exploration
Navacerrada, Madrid, Spain Ivan Juárez & Patricia Meneses (x.studio) source goo.gl/uxzizE (2014-05-05)
Location Authors
The project Nest Architectures, situated on the border between the Guadarrama mountain range and the city of Madrid, is the realization of an inverse exercise of intervention in urban and natural spaces that explores new aspects to redefine those borders. The work creates a new hybrid landscape, built with vertical wood elements that create a new artificial forest—a forest to be walked through, and, at the same time, be a housing complex for the mountain’s inhabitants: birds.
Ice Tipography social
sculpture
critique
Toronto, Canada Nicole Dextras source goo.gl/uyJBcH (2014-05-05) Location Author
The Ice Typography series consists of three-dimensional words fabricated in ice placed outdoors that speak to how the viewer’s gaze frames and informs the landscape. The installations have varied from 8-foot high ice letters on the Yukon River to 18-inch high letters set in downtown Toronto. When the ice texts are installed on site, the temperature determines how long it will take for them to change state from solid to liquid. This phase of transition becomes symbolic of the interconnectedness of language and culture to the land as they are affected by time and by a constant shifting and transforming nature.
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Phone Booth Book Share (2010 →) re-do
furniture
participation
New York City, New York, USA Department of Urban Betterment source goo.gl/V3NjH3 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
With smart phones near universal, one might wonder why public payphones still occupy so much sidewalk space. The Department of Urban Betterment’s (DUB) Phone Booth Book Share is part of a series of urban interventions that explore obsolete street technology. It might look like a simple repurposing of phone booths into community book shares, but DUB’s motto – nascetur ridiculus mus, “and a ridiculous mouse will be brought forth” – hints at a grander objective.
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Iluminacción (2011) functional
furniture, event
sensory trigger
San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA Urbano Activo source goo.gl/vBE0uX (2014-05-21) Location Authors
A once bustling street in the center of San Juan fell into disuse when the city failed to repair broken streetlamps. The dark street was perceived as unsafe by many, and became generally avoided. Urbano Activo conducted a multidisciplinary workshop that included local residents, and devised Iluminacción, a one-night event that called on neighbors to converge on the street with handcrafted lanterns and whatever other means of illumination they could find. With music and a festive atmosphere, the street shone bright once again. A petition was circulated at the event, leading the city to repair the broken streetlamps.
PlayMo re-do
installation
conviviality
Melbourne, Australia City Leaks source goo.gl/vfCkC2 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
PlayMo was born from the intention of inventing a space that turns into a place where people meet, spend time and play. Its name comes from “playmobil”, a Lego styled child’s creative play toy. Using milk crates was like playing with big Lego pieces. PlayMo uses 3 different types of Crates. Black = platforms, Grey = stairs, Green = moveable. The Green Crates provide the undefined random element; people rearrange their seats or even build small stairs themselves.
Career Path (2011) social
painting
participation
Finland Candy Chang source goo.gl/vj1OkY (2014-05-23) Location Author
A local pedestrian/bike path is nicknamed Uraputki (“Career Path”) because it is a popular route that students take from their residences to the university, to get a degree to get a job. To provide perspective the path was turned into an interactive space with prompts that invite people to share what they wanted to be when they were little and what they want to be today. Passersby can use colored chalk to write directly on the pavement and reflect upon their larger life choices and how they’ve changed or stayed the same.
PUPstop Project (2012 →) re-do, functional furniture participation, exploration Indianapolis, Indiana, USA People for Urban Progress + IndyGo source goo.gl/vk7DzN (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Due to a lack of benches on most of the bus stops People for Urban Progress (PUP) salvaged 9,000 fold-up bleacher seats from a historic Bush Stadium and began upcycling them as the bus stop seating. The original red and yellow seats were refurbished for sidewalk installation. PUP’s website invites citizens to identify new sites, sponsor and otherwise help more communities get their own PUPstops.
The Red Swing Project (2007) ludic
installation
exploration
Austin, Texas, USA & worldwide group of architecture students in Austin source goo.gl/VmMvT (2013-11-01) Location Authors
The Red Swing Project started in 2007 as an urban intervention by a group of architecture students within the city of Austin. The original red swing was made for $2 with a single piece of wood and retired rock climbing rope. Since, nearly 200 red swings have appeared around the globe, on vacant lots, under highway overpasses, turning undervalued spaces into playgrounds and passersby into playmates. The red swing remains the constant while the environmental backdrops and cultural contexts change from place to place. The project now offers a ‘how-to’ instructional video and manual, enabling anyone to join the project.
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Parkmobiles (2011 →) functional
furniture
conviviality
San Francisco, California, USA CMG Landscape Architecture source goo.gl/VWaH1s (2014-05-23) Location Authors
Parkmobiles were created to enliven street life in the evolving Yerba Buena District of San Francisco. Designed for economy and durability, Parkmobiles are rugged, customdesigned industrial containers that incorporate seating and landscape into easily deployable units. Six Parkmobiles, each with a different plant mix, were moved throughout the district’s streets, creating new active public spaces. Parkmobiles was part of CMG Landscape Architecture’s Yerba Buena Street Life Plan, a community-based public space plan with 36 intervention projects for the next generation of public space in the district.
Ephemeral Lighting Installation (2013)
136
esthetic painting sensory trigger, exploration Location
Madrid, Spain
Authors (fos) source
goo.gl/KaJgNp (2013-11-01)
The project’s intention was to give the illusion of an artificial light shinning from above. By using more than 250 m of yellow tape, pineapples, painted pieces of art, lawn furniture and a lamp, a visual spectacle between perspective and colour volumes that would stroke passersby’s attention was created.
Crown Heights Participatory Urbanism (2011 →) re-do, esthetic
painting, gardening
participation
Brooklyn, New York, USA Manuel Ávila source goo.gl/WQecqF (2014-05-21) Location Author
This community-based planning and design project was founded to invite residents to re-imagine an underused and neglected passage into a series of public spaces that would unify the neighborhood. Their feedback, collected at community meetings, on local blogs, and in notebooks strategically placed in local stores, informs designs for five sites along the corridor. With input in hand, Ávila is working with elected officials to obtain the permits and funding to realize these modest but transformative ideas.
Crystal (2012) ludic
technology
sensory trigger
Location Amsterdam, Netherlands, Paris, France, Moscow, Russia, now permanent in Eindhoven, Netherlands Authors Studio Roosegaarde source goo.gl/WUuS77 (2014-05-05)
CRYSTAL are hundreds of crystals of light which brighten when you touch them. People can play and share their stories of light. Artist Daan Roosegaarde calls them “Lego from Mars”. Each Crystal contains LEDs that are wirelessly charged via a magnetic floor. Once visitors start adding, moving or sharing Crystals, the basic breathing of the Crystals changes. The lighting behavior of crystals moves from ‘excited’ to ‘bored’, keeping visitors curious.
Yellow Since 1877
137
(2007)
landmark
installation
humor
London, UK Sam Spenser source goo.gl/WZRr49 (2013-02-10) Location Author
An artist from London whose interests lie in the vast spaces of fine art and architecture. At the overlapping of these two areas he has grown the ‘Bloom’—the urban environment installation for the London’s The Wapping Project. The bright yellow umbrellas have bloomed all over the tree in London backyard.
Cement Eclipses /Follow the Leaders (2009) social
installation
critique
Nantes, France Isaac Cordal source goo.gl/WZsrGA (2014-05-19) Location Author
This installation of 2,000 miniatures in rubble and ruins metaphorically reflects on the collapse of capitalism and its aftermath. Thousands of small-scale figures dressed in unifying business suits are entrenched in what seems like an apocalyptic scene. Surrounded by concrete buildings crumbling into heaps of wreckage and remains, the tiny men cowering in corners and trying to make sense of the scene are at once a sharp critique of the current state of the global economy and a mockery of the leaders that govern it.
The Reading Nest (2013) landmark
construction
conviviality
Cleveland, Ohio, USA Mark Reigelman source goo.gl/X73TJl (2014-05-05) Location Author
The Reading Nest is a site-specific installation outside the Cleveland Public Library. Reigelman obtained 10,000 reclaimed boards from various Cleveland industrial and manufacturing sites and worked with a team of people over 10 days to construct the nest. For centuries objects in nature have been associated with knowledge and wisdom. Trees of enlightenment and scholarly owls have been particularly prominent in this history of mythological objects of knowledge. The Reading Nest is a visual intermediary between forest and fowl. It symbolizes growth, community and knowledge while continuing to embody mythical roots. 138
Place It! (2009 →) social
event
participation
USA James Rojas source goo.gl/xBjule (2014-05-21) Location Author
Place It! is a series of community workshops that invites the public to reflect upon, explore, participate in, and better comprehend the look and feel of the city through interactive models. The workshops start with a basic model of the local city, crafted from Legos, buttons, other toys and raw materials, and then participants are invited to add, subtract, and rearrange elements to envision their ideal city. Participants in a recent workshop in Raleigh, North Carolina, came up with proposed improvements including new grocery stores and farmers markets, outdoor movies, and improved biking conditions.
Art in Public Spaces (2014) esthetic Location
painting
participation, sensory trigger
Belgrade, Serbia
As a continuation of the City Acupunture project proposed the intervention in the building of the Ministry of Culture and Media of Republic of Serbia. Six artists were working inside of the Ministry building, on the corridors, stairways and in the press room on the intervention in the street art style. The idea was to make the atmosphere more lively and to promote street art as a regular art discipline.
Adopt a Pothole social, functional participation
painting
Gurgaon, India Apollo Tyres source goo.gl/xEqzZG (2014-05-15) Location Author
So, how does Adopt a Pothole work? It’s simple really. Think of the potholes around you as depressed, homeless pets. Now these pets need you to adopt them. But you alone can not carry the burden of all these potholes, so you get your friends to support your adoption. Once enough “supports” roll in, your potholes get fixed by Apollo Tyres. That simple!
Sound Architecture IV (2011)
landmark sculpture sensory trigger Zwolle, Netherlands Ronald van der Meijs source goo.gl/P7fo9q (2013-02-10) Location Author
The artists used 5,000 repurposed bicycle bells that were set on steel pins. The most interesting part of the installation lies in the fact that as the wind blows the bells softly ring against each other. With his work, the artist wanted to make the wind visible and hearable.
Museum of the Phantom City (2009 →) cultural
technology
exploration
New York City, New York, USA Cheng+Snyder source goo.gl/xLFPKd (2014-05-21) Location Authors
The Museum of the Phantom City is a public art project that uses personal digital devices to transform the city into a living museum. The downloadable mobile app reveals visionary speculative design proposals for various sites in New York City. This “museum without walls” hopes to intensify urban experiences, introducing pleasure and mystery to the metropolitan condition.
139
Community Living Room (2002 →) social, re-do
furniture
conviviality
California, USA Shared Spaces & ‘Hood Builders source goo.gl/xpb05p (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Drawing from the tradition in many predominantly black neighborhoods of locals gathering on stoops and street corners, often improvising seating from crates or scrap wood, the designers created groupings of outdoor furniture that make neighborhoods better for current residents in a way that might also make them less attractive to gentrifiers.
140
Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (2013 →) re-do
gardening
critique, exploration
Chicago, Illinois, USA CROP source goo.gl/XuSIJ5 (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The CROP project is raising the bar on public green space. The new nonprofit was established to create community rare-fruit orchards in reclaimed urban spaces in Chicago. Its pilot project in Logan Square will transform an empty plot into an orchard with 40 fruit-bearing trees, including rare and endangered varieties of pears, apples, and stone fruit. By planting rare-fruit orchards, CROP addresses several issues in one bundle, including crop diversity, vacancy, public space, and access to food.
The Uni (2011 →) cultural
furniture
conviviality
New York City, New York, USA & elsewhere The Uni Project & Höweler + Yoon Architecture source goo.gl/y1Vm6p (2014-05-23) Location Authors
The Uni is a mobile, modular outdoor library designed to reinforce the potential for learning in the public sphere. The Uni introduces an unfamiliar use of the public realm, converting any square or sidewalk into a plein-air learning lounge. Uni’s lightweight modular structures are composed of open-faced stacking cubes, which can each hold 10 to 15 books, and can be adapted to almost any public space.
Insert____Here (2008 →) social
installation
dialogue
New York City, New York, USA Eve Mosher source goo.gl/y6lsvN (2014-05-21) Location Author
The Insert____Here project, launched in response to a perceived lack of public awareness around communitydriven change, capitalizes on community awareness of place and optimism. The project invites participants to place bold yellow “Insert____Here” arrows in locations in their community where they want to “insert” an urban change or intervention. By posting their ideas on site, individuals can share their proposed solutions with the greater community. Arrows have also been projected onto the sides of buildings during events, allowing passersby to text their wishes for a site and see them broadcast live to the neighborhood.
Portrait of Wildfire (2011) landmark
sculpture
sensory trigger
Lubbock, Texas, USA Herb Williams source goo.gl/YehIof (2014-05-13) Location Author
An outdoor art installation that aims to educate the public as to the causes of wildfire both environmental and human; its effect on the surrounding environment including plants and animals; fire prevention and the purpose of prescribed burning. 5 freestanding, three-dimensional sculptures of wildfire are created using the media of Crayola crayons for the National Ranching Heritage Center. Because each sculpture is made of wax, they melted and changed shape in the unpredictable outdoor conditions. Each piece of art was altered by blowing wind and dry conditions such as those that affect the intensity and duration of real wildfire.
Argallios (2011) re-do installation participation, sensory trigger Crete, Greece Kollektivemind source goo.gl/ygl1nA (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The Argallios project is a public, interactive installation placed on the fence of a primary school, in a less privileged area of Chania. “Argallios” derives from the greek word which means “in a different way”. The result does not only bring colour to the school’s yard, but also creates a sense of a landmark of ecological and cultural meaning for the area.
141
Green Pedestrian Crossing (2012) social
painting
participation
Shanghai, China Jody Xiong (ddb) source goo.gl/YH9v3i (2014-05-12)
Location Author
The project is an an attempt to gain the attention of the inhabitants to promote walking instead of driving. Sponge cushions soaked in green, environmentally friendly, washable and quick dry paint were situated on both sides of the road in 7 main streets of Shanghai. Pedestrians would walk towards the crossing, stepping on the sponge to create imprints onto the tree canvas on the ground with their feet. Each green footprint is representative of leaves growing on a bare tree, physically showing the results of becoming more environmentally conscious. The project later expanded to 132 roads in 15 cities across China. 142
OMCA Event Space social
furniture
participation
Oakland, California, USA Jensen Architects source goo.gl/zbCtMb (2012-11-09) Location Authors
Marrying participation from the local community or random passengers and a simple and effective idea for an urban living room makes a great way to revive an urban site and generate better interaction. Metal garden furniture hung on hooks on the wall allows people to create their own seating arrangements and space for different social events and gatherings.
Plastic Birdhouse (2013) re-do
installation
humor
Portugal Colectivo da Rainha source goo.gl/ylpFKe (2014-05-05) Location Authors
The creative duo created the Plastic Bird House as a way to give a home to birds from something you already have in your home. The water company takes environmental issues seriously with their campaign to plant a tree for each bottle that’s sold and the designers, Filipa Ricardo and Renato Silva, took that to heart with their own belief that we all have “a home for nature in our home.” Each birdhouse is made from a single water bottle and the handle remains as a perch for the birds.
Tambabox (2006) cultural
installation
dialogue
Tambacounda, Senegal Ivan Juárez & Patricia Meneses (x.studio), Mamadou Diouf & Amadou Souka Gom source goo.gl/ysrHh3 (2014-05-05) Location Authors
Tambabox is an object-space created from the extraordinarily varied and complex world of industrial textiles that most of the Senegalese use to make their own boubous. The textiles that delimit this architecture are murals in which the body is partly transformed, becoming part of the linen cloth. The project was realized as a collaboration between architects and local craftsmen, carpenters and tailors. It was proposed as an open space where different art disciplines could take part in the same poetry.
Olympic Changes (2014) ludic
technology
participation, humor
Sochi, Russia goo.gl/Ywn79Z (2014-05-23)
Location source
The idea of “Olympic changes,” or simply called ‘’Squats to free transport’’, was intoduces in the Moscow metro. City authorities have installed a device that gives citizens a free ticket to ride the metro if they do 30 squats. The aim was to encourage people to exercise, due to health, as well as the promotion of the upcoming sports competitions.
Ex[pause] (2013) ludic
technology
conviviality, interactivity
Montréal, Canada Stéphanie Leduc & Manuel Baumann source goo.gl/Z2lwq4 (2013-11-01) Location Authors
An interactive installation Ex[pause] has been set up throughout the summer in the heart of Montréal, at Mont Royal metro station. Experience makes sense as two people sit together. Geometrical and colorful structure draws passersby’s attention, offering forty seats of which two are marked with a different color. People taking place at that spot are being photographed and shortly afterwards the photo appears on the adjacent screen. When there’s no-one using that very spot screen randomly displays previously taken photos of casual encounters of strangers, friends or couples thus encouraging social cohesion in the city.
143
Your Text Here (2012) social
technology
dialogue
Detroit, USA Marcos Zotes (UNSTABLE) source goo.gl/Z3PZA3 (2012-11-26)
Location Author
During outdoors light art festival in midtown Detroit, citizens were given the opportunity not to only recieve information, but to share them with public over the giant display board on the façade of a building by sending an anonymous text messages through their mobile phones. That way, the voice of the little people became as big as the size of a building. During two nights, thousands of citizens gathered in the street, sharing their feelings, criticism, secrets, advices and frustration by submitting over 1 000 text messages.
144
Flamme Eternelle (2014) re-do
construction
conviviality
Paris, France Thomas Hirschhorn source goo.gl/z5WRWW (2014-05-23) Location Author
An authentic public space built within a Parisian institution. Constructed as a wasteland of disused tires, spray painted cardboard pieces, packing tape-wrapped furniture, TVs, computer screens and a bar, the social environment is made available to an audience of both art-lovers and those who curiously wander inside. “It is an artwork, an exhibition within an institution”, Hirschhorn describes. “What I want to do is to create, within an institution, a public space or moments of public space. A space for encounters, dialogue, engagement. A space in which to be, to stay, to spend time and a space in which to think.”
Post Furniture (2009 →) functional
furniture
participation, humor
Los Angeles & Oakland, California, USA Ken Mori & Jenny Liang source goo.gl/ZeEFrE (2014-05-21) Location Authors
Hoping that improving the pedestrian experience might entice people out of their cars to “enjoy the cityscape and each other,” industrial designers Ken Mori and Jenny Liang created Post Furniture, a series of interventions that turn traffic signposts into urban furniture. SignBench appropriates the ubiquitous freeway sign, while SignChair is easily screwed onto any standard signpost. Espousing the belief that shaping one’s surroundings creates a sense of neighborhood ownership, Mori and Liang designed Post Furniture in such a way that anybody can easily replicate and deploy them in their own cities.
145
Project Partners
Supporting Institutions
147
Tag Index C construction 13-16, 22, 25, 31-33, 42, 43, 54, 71, 74, 77, 79, 82, 88, 96, 98, 101, 102, 109, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118-121, 125-130, 138, 144 conviviality 12-16, 31-34, 40-44, 50-54, 68, 71, 74, 75, 77, 83, 86, 88, 92, 96, 97, 99, 102, 107, 109, 111, 112, 116, 117, 121, 124, 125, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 144 critique 12, 13, 16, 22-24, 40, 41, 43, 52, 54, 68, 72, 74, 79, 80, 84, 85, 94, 99, 104, 105, 111, 113, 115-117, 124, 125, 128, 129, 133, 137, 140 cultural 31, 53, 69, 89, 99, 106, 127, 139, 140, 143 D dialogue 15, 16, 24, 30, 32, 33, 51, 52, 69, 71, 72, 75-77, 80-82, 85, 90, 92, 94, 97, 108, 115, 119, 120, 122, 125, 127, 129-132, 141, 143, 144 E esthetic 22, 23, 30, 43, 69, 79, 83, 84, 86, 90, 91, 99, 103, 107, 110, 112, 113, 118, 119, 122, 136, 138 event 24, 33, 41, 50, 51, 53, 70, 72, 77, 79, 81, 84, 88, 92-94, 97, 99, 102-105, 110, 111, 123, 124, 127, 134, 138 exploration 24, 25, 32, 33, 40-42, 44, 50-52, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88-91, 93, 94, 98, 100, 102, 104, 105, 108, 109, 112, 118-121, 123, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 133, 135, 136, 139, 140 F functional 13-15, 23, 40, 43, 51, 68, 73, 78, 79, 90-92, 94, 96-98, 101, 106, 108, 110, 114, 116-118, 121, 123, 124, 126, 128, 130, 134-136, 139, 144 furniture 12-14, 16, 23, 25, 32, 40-44, 50-53, 68, 70, 71, 73-75, 77, 81, 83, 86-88, 90-93, 95-98, 101, 106-108, 110, 111, 117, 121, 123, 126, 129, 132, 134-136, 140, 142, 144 G gardening 12, 14, 24, 76, 78, 80, 83, 87, 88, 100, 103, 110, 112, 116, 118, 120, 122, 125, 136, 140 gastronomy 41, 75, 103, 129, 132 H humor 23, 30, 40, 41, 54, 73, 76, 78, 81, 86, 87, 92, 94-99, 101, 102, 104, 107, 109, 110, 113, 119-122, 131, 137, 142-144 I income 103, 114, 120, 124 installation 12, 13, 15, 24, 32-34, 40, 41, 50, 51, 53, 54, 68-70, 72, 74-76, 78-81, 84-87, 89, 91, 94-97, 99, 104-110, 115, 118, 120-122, 124, 126, 128, 130-135, 137, 141-143 interactivity 31, 68, 70, 78, 89, 93, 95, 115, 119, 125, 127, 128, 143 L landmark 12-14, 16, 24, 31-34, 40, 41, 43, 44, 50, 51, 54, 71, 73, 79, 90, 91, 93, 97, 98, 105, 113, 118, 119, 121, 123, 126, 129, 131, 133, 137-139, 141 ludic 15, 33, 34, 40, 41, 43, 52-54, 68, 70, 71, 74, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 86, 87, 89, 91, 95, 96, 101, 102, 104, 105, 109, 111, 112, 114, 118, 120, 122, 123, 125-129, 131, 135, 137, 143 P painting 12, 22-24, 30, 32, 33, 52, 72, 78, 80, 83, 85, 90-95, 100, 103, 104, 107, 113, 114, 117, 119, 122, 123, 125, 130, 132, 135, 136, 138, 139, 142 participation 13, 14, 22, 31, 32, 34, 41, 42, 51, 53, 72, 78, 80, 81, 83, 84, 87, 88, 93, 101, 103-106, 109-111, 114-118, 123, 124, 126-128, 131, 133-136, 138, 139, 141-144 R re-do 12, 14-16, 22-25, 32-34, 42, 50-52, 54, 68-70, 73, 75-78, 80-83, 85-88, 91-94, 96, 97, 99, 100, 102, 106, 108-113, 115-118, 120, 121, 123, 126, 127, 130, 134-136, 140-142, 144 S sculpture 15, 31, 54, 69, 72, 73, 77, 79, 84, 89, 90, 98, 102, 111, 113, 115, 129, 131, 133, 139, 141 sensory trigger 12, 23, 24, 30, 31, 43, 51, 53, 69, 70, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85-87, 89-91, 95, 97-100, 103, 106, 108, 110, 112-115, 118, 122, 134, 136-139, 141 social 12, 13, 15, 16, 22, 24, 32, 33, 40, 41, 43, 50-54, 69-77, 79-82, 84, 85, 87-90, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 102-105, 107-111, 119, 120, 124, 125, 127-133, 135, 137-142, 144 T technology 13, 24, 31, 43, 44, 52, 68, 82-84, 86, 93, 100-102, 108, 112, 114, 116, 117, 125, 131, 133, 137, 139, 143, 144
8 ISBN 97
-953-95
350-8-5