Westlake Pocket Park Design 2015 Kennedy
|BACKGROUND – Pocket parks have been an integral part of shaping communities and cities for many years. Pocket parks can be urban, suburban or rural, and can be on public or private land. Though sometimes they are too small for physical activities, pocket parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and sometimes a children's playground. They may be created around a monument, historic marker or art project. They are frequently created on a single vacant building lot or on small, irregular pieces of land. They also may be created as a component of the public space requirement of large building projects. In highly urbanized areas, particularly downtown where land is very expensive, pocket parks are the only option for creating new public spaces without large-scale redevelopment. In inner-city areas, pocket parks are often part of urban regeneration plans. Small parks can also increase the value of nearby homes.
DESIGN PROBLEM – Pocket parks have the ability to activate under-used or open spaces, and turn them into vibrant community spaces. This solves a problem that I have noticed in my community, especially close to my city’s center. There is a depravity of parks or open spaces that are actually near the center of the city next to important buildings such as City Hall, the high school, the Board of Education, the police station and the middle and intermediate schools. The problem is there is not a public space that is capitalizing on this central and convenient location. The problem as I see it is twofold: the youth of the community that spend much of their time in this central location have no place to enjoy the outdoors and play, and the older (working or retired) generation have no haven to escape from the office for lunch or just to appreciate being outdoors.
DESIGN SOLUTION – A small but efficient pocket park would easily solve all of these problems and more. The solution I purpose is to build a pocket park in that central location (city center) that provides unique opportunities for children to play while simultaneously providing a space were adults can leisurely take breaks from the hustle and bustle and slow down. Because of the central location the park is bound to be near important streets and could be viewed as dangerous. But this problem is easily solved by creating different levels of activity: for instance the adult eating area is located a step below street level but the playground and kid space is located a few steps more below street level. This would keep the kids safe from the dangers of the street and also create a sense of place in the park among a city center. The higher level eating space would provide a nice outdoor destination dining area that workers can lunch at. The existing space had added a sculpture to increase the use of art in the community and I have decide to capitalize on this idea and truly make this space for local artists to display their work; the different building pads that separate the levels can be covered in murals that positively reflect our community. An added bonus of this central community space is that it is located on the streets that usually contain the local parades, the park could entertain the kids while keeping them away from the street during the parades. The park would also be useful in all seasons in addition to the play areas and eating areas that are obviously beneficial in the nice weather, there are also cold weather options such as sledding down the ramp that differentiates the levels and possibly ice skating because of the interchangeable surfaces in the park.
Comments
Really thorough approach to the challenge; creative brainstorming about the actual site and the various situations in which people could "experience" different aspects (various seasons, various community events). I appreciated the vision for the park in contrast to the photographed park - it help underline the possibilities a pocket park could hold for users. This was a very effective component of the overall project. Really comprehensive final project component - various views and explanations leave viewers with a really strong sense of how all the parts fit together and the overall rationale and traffic flow. Very well executed, explained and presented.
I wonder if the park might have incorporated some sort of local history/culture/environment component? What might make this park SPECIAL/UNIQUE in relation to the actual site being selected?
You are a very sophisticated designer! Your park research and documentation was very comprehensive and you obviously have a good understanding of the range of possibilities in current park design. Your critics of park examples were very insightful and you managed to extract the main ideas behind those designs and apply them to you own park design, which demonstrates a very high-level of design thinking. I would have like to have seen you distill your list of ideas by identifying your specific design problem. In your overview you touch lightly on the need for green space in a central location that would provide workers with a place to enjoy the outdoors but your final design feels more oriented towards younger children and the retired. I think going back to your original design problem would have helped you stay on track and narrow the range of park features you presented in your final design. Besides that you clearly show an aptitude for design thinking and the creativity to communicate your visions either by hand or computer renderings.