Spark in the Park
The ideathon challenged myself and my group members to come up with a creative and provocative solution in 3 weeks to make our site, the entrance to Quilchena Park along the Arbutus Greenway, a destination node. We had to ensure our idea could be implemented within a 1 year timescale, and must be temporary. Our central idea is to input a communal campfire into our site, promoting social engagement with the community and providing a space to stop and relax along the Greenway. Below you will find the pitch and report for our project. At the end of the 3 week timescale, we presented in front of 3 judges, one of whom is the current landscape architect of Quilchena Park. He found our solution to be provocative yet provided community engagement, and we were selected out of 5 groups to move forward and bring our project to Hubbub #9 at City Hall [CityStudio Event]. Hubbub was a great opportunity to interact with other creative minds from other universities across the lower mainland, and meet those working with the City of Vancouver. Overall we felt as if our project was a success, and even a couple members from the City of Vancouver were interested in turning our project vision into a reality. Oh and before I forget, we had to come up with our official team name: The Kermits [“Because It’s Not Easy Being Green”]!
Spark in the Park: Our Poster for Hubbub #9 @ City Hall [CityStudio Event Dec 1 2017]
The Pitch:
Our vision is for this space is to make it a place to connect with nature and the community. We want our site to be a place where those with and without private access to the views and a backyard can take ownership over a public space. We came up with the idea of a community fire pit surrounded with colorful picnic tables, planters for gardening, string lights and the views of the mountains provided by the natural landscape. It’ll be a destination stop along the greenway, a place to rest, picnic, roast marshmallows and a place for the community to gather. There will be weekly campfire music nights where people can bring their guitars and their voices, book club meetings, community barbecues and a gardening space where food can be grown. The space will be flexible, and the circular design will create and promote sharing and engagement. The whole project is temporary, short term and easy to implement in the entrance of the park. We understand there are immediate safety and regulatory concerns that come to mind and we’ll work to implement monitoring measures to ensure safety. We hope this will be a space that will ignite a spark in the community, promote social engagements and draw locals to the warmth of a fire.
The Report:
Photos from Hubbub 9 (CityStudio):
The Spark in the Park Poster, along with The Kermits and Plan 221 Professor Su Jan.
