Granville Island Pop-Up Ping-Pong public space activation report
peak times! 250
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“This is great! I’m glad to see more fun here on the island!” - Roy, 45yrs old
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Ping-pong in February. It’s definitely not the first thing that comes to mind for those who are visiting Granville Island during the winter months. Over three weeks in February, frida&frank transformed Ocean Art Works into a Ping-Pong Paradise for visitors of Granville Island. On Thursdays and Saturdays from 11:30-4:00pm we opened the space up for people to enjoy ping-pong, craft making, and hanging out on hammocks. Visitors of all different backgrounds and ages joined us for anywhere from five minutes-two hours. Those who passed by either smiled and pointed, took photos of the signage to check out later, and many eventually came in to play. It’s difficult to begin to quantify those who shared a hearty laugh, or giggled throughout their entire experience in the space, but those who stayed generally enjoyed the experience, and thanked us when they left.
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Ocean Art Works Ping-Pong Set-up
Fast Facts! • Average length of stay: 20 minutes • People stayed for a longer duration on rainy days • Average group size: 2 • Most popular group demographic was either 2 millenials, or parent and child
“My friend posted this on Facebook and we got really excited! We played a lot of ping-pong in university and wanted to come check it out.” - Matt and Ben, 23 yrs old
play! for all ages Ping-Pong was the main attraction for most people. Those who wanted to play eagerly entered the space leading others to join in as well. When the tables were full more people came into the space to watch the games and excitedly wait for their own turn to play pingpong. If people were playing for a long time they would eventually either offer others to play doubles, or to take over the table when they had finished. We rarely had to intervene to get people to get new people on the tables who had been waiting for awhile. Visitor Age Demographics: Seniors (60+ 5.5%
Kids (0-12) 22.3% Adults (35-60) 33.0% Teens (13-18) 7.8%
Millenials (19-34) 31.4%
Older generations still know how to throw down
“It’s nice to see so many people from the community coming together to play! It reminds me of when I was younger and we played a game of ping-pong called Mosca (fly) where we played as a big group and ran around the table hitting the ball to each other. You don’t see strangers coming together as often in Vancouver” - Laticia, 55 yrs old
Three different age groups can be seen engaging together in the Ocean Arts space.
One of the great things about ping-pong is that it is an inherently low-barrier sport that people of different ages and abilities can easily play. We saw games take place between groups of all ages, and backgrounds, many of which were cross-generational and even multilingual. The ping-pong tables provided a platform for people to interact with those who they may not normally have the opportunity to connect with. Additionally, they also provided an opportunity to enhance the experiences of those who came in groups, by providing a new experience to participate in together.
a group of teenagers on a field trip play round table pingpong with their classmates
Those who were initially hesitant or hadn’t played before still enjoyed the process of hitting the ball over the net and trying something new. Laughing and smiling usually occured throughout this process, as people enjoyed the new experience.
let’s get crafty!
“I like this place!” - Nate, 5 yrs old Hammocks, brought over by The Hang-Out Place, provided an opportunity for people to play, hangout, and relax. They did a wonderful job at making people comfortable in the space, which in turn, encouraged people to stay longer. We even had some people stay for up to an hour and take naps in the large hammock! They added a bright pop of color, and were a great compliment to our activation.
kids participate in crafts while adults play
a young visitor hangs out on one of the swing hammocks
a family participates in craft making together
Many visitors to Ocean Arts enjoyed decorating the space with chalk throughout their visit, especially children, teens, and millenials. People enjoyed being able to draw on both the ground and the tables and contribute colour and character to the space during their visit.
Having crafts readily available allowed for groups to actively make something while waiting for a game, or as an activity on its own. Many visitors ended up taking their creations home with them or exchanging their artwork with other craft-makers. People even participated together in 3-part drawings, and making portraits of one another. The only downside to having crafts was that on windy days they tended to fly everywhere and create a big mess. All in all, people enjoyed the option of crafting and we were very excited to have this available at Ocean Arts!
“This is awesome! We live nearby and come to the island every weekend. It’s nice to see new things going on!” -Camila, 50 yrs old
a child draws, while a group of teenagers work on some math problems in chalk
People’s drawings acted as a visual record of participation throughout our activations. By our last day at Ocean Arts, the space was filled with many marks of individual expression that built up over time. Through chalk, we were able to capture collective experiences in the space which ranged from math problems, multilingual greetings, and many creative creatures.
some final thoughts!
recommendations!
Throughout our three weeks we definitely could tell that people enjoyed stumbling upon something new on Granville Island. The spontineity of pop-up ping-pong in the middle of winter time provided an exciting chance to warm up through movement. Although there were less users on weekdays, more of the participants who played worked on the island or were local. Pop-up ping pong could be a great way for vendors and people who work on Granville Island to get to know eachother through play on their lunch breaks. Increase in Visitors from Thursday to Saturday:
• Music both contributed and changed the vibe of the space, while having the buskers there was nice, certain types of music added to the experience more than others • Ocean Arts is an exciting and under utilized space and should be regularly programmed throughout the year • The location had just enough foot traffic to keep it busy, but better connection to the public market or busier parts of the island might have brought more visitors • It would be great to have a tea/coffee vendor on site to encourage people to stay longer • More ping-pong = more fun!
locals play alongside tourists
thank you!
Thanks so much for having us on the Island, we had lot’s of fun, and hope to be back soon! Cheers Haley & Ellie