Tales of Soundview

TALES OF SOUNDVIEW PARK Danielle Christophe, Amanda Greenough, Marie Boegly, Christopher Patten & Helena Kjellgren

SHAPING THE IDENTITY OF SOUNDVIEW PARK The focus for our project in Soundview Park was strengthening the concept of “identity” through the community group Friends of Soundview Park.

PROCESS

GREETINGS FROM SOUNDVIEW PARK Introduction to the park and it’s visitors

In order to form an understanding of the park and its current identity we interviewed residents and volunteers during the International Coastal Clean Up Day led by Bronx River Alliance and Friends of Soundview Park. The insights gained from this was made into a short film, called “Greetings from Soundview Park” showing how the perception of the park’s identity was shaped by what people told us about the park in the interviews.

INSIGHTS From our interviews we realized that the there was a link between what people expressed about the park and where they were living. Many people we spoke to had come to the park especially for the coastal clean up, and for many of them this was their first visit. Among the residents we spoke to their perception of the park was colored by the areas history. From our secondary research we were intrigued by some of the myths that was intertwined in the park’s history (like the story of a big black boulder that according to stories was a meteorite.

We also learned that for recruitment, face to face interaction is essential. For outreach, social media is a powerful tool. From talking to “Friends of Soundview” we understood that one of their major challenges was recruitment and finding people that were passionate about certain things in the park.

How can the true and fictional stories help building a stronger identity for soundview park?

MOCK-UP WORKSHOP Preparing and planning for the event at My Park Day

Recognizing the value of stories in shaping the identity of a park we created a mock-up workshop for our class where we designed a route through the park where we intended for stories and myths of the part to be told along the way. We created postcards with stories mixing truth and fiction, aiming to create new myths about the park as well as creating incentives for people to engage with the park in different ways. We also thought that this could be a tool to start conversations about what residents are interested in, as a way to recruit volunteers for “Friends of Soundview�.

My name is Moe and I am from March.

I comfort the trees when their leaves fall by hugging them. But there are so many trees. Will you help me hug them?

My name is Billie and I live in the reed .

I often think of the marsh that used to be here - I love water!

INSIGHTS From our mock up workshop we realized that creating a path for people to follow was complicated and that it would be better to create an activity for a smaller area of the park. From how people engaged with the postcards we realized that them in themselves could be a way to collect thoughts/stories/replies.

I am Oliver and I move travel from bin to bin. Bottles, bags, thingamajigs, gizmos - well any manmade thing - I treasure!

If you see any in the park - please put it in one of my bins!

My name is Willow.

I live in that big tree in the Jungle.

I am scared of the rain.

Can you please draw me an umbrella and bring it to me?

MY PARK DAY Create My Park Day

For “My Park Day� we wrote and recorded stories about three fictional characters. Each story ended with a prompt and was connected to a corresponding postcard (where the visitors could write their suggestions and replies).The stories where centered around the themes of environment engagement, cultural activities and volunteering for Friends of Soundview Park.

The cards with people’s responses were displayed on the sides of our tent using string and clothespins, allowing visitors to share ideas and be inspired.

In addition to the postcards we had printed a large map of the park that we placed on a table next to stickers in the shape of hearts. We asked visitors to place a heart on the map locating their favorite spot, or where they had a special memory.

INSIGHTS The activity with the map and hearts gave us insights into what areas of the park that were really popular among the residents. We thought that this element of everyday stories and memories insight could be a valuable of a web platform.

The recorded stories that people could listen to using headphones was truly engaging and attracted many people. Our cards worked well, but we also realized that the framing of writing a reply made some visitors hesitant. This inspired a redesign of the postcard, leaving space for people to write OR draw.

We also recognized that the activity with listening to stories and writing postcards was a way for people to express interest in further engagment in the park. We saw that this could be a great way for Friends of Soundview Park to find more volunteers that are passionate about the park and its surroundings.

STORYTELLING WORKSHOP AT SOUNDVIEW PUBLIC LIBRARY

Recognizing the value of connecting other stakeholders and community centres and the park we created a storytelling activity at a public library in Soundview. We invited residents of various ages to engage in this event. This activity was divided into steps, starting with an introductory story to inspire people to fantasise about what characters that might live in the park and write their own stories about them. The participants filled out character profile cards and build and draw their own characters from craft paper and art supplies. After this, we asked them to start writing their stories. After a while we asked them to pass their stories to the person sitting next to them and continue writing on someone else’s story.

OUR PROPOSITION From the events and prototypes created during the semester we gained an understanding of what would in work in terms of strengthening the identity of the park through a community organizations such as Friends of Soundview Park. We developed this into a tool kit.

TALES OF _________ Tales of ____________ is a research tool designed to help Partnership for Parks amplify the intangible qualities of underserved New York City Parks through the creative process of storytelling.

Our research tool takes an analog approach to the user-input strategies of LoCast and combines it with the community-led park design tools created by People Make the Park. Like the tools available from the People Make the Park campaign, ours is a pdf that includes step-bystep instructions that we developed through the semester.

Our tool consists of two identity-building activities.

LOCAST

Our research tool is rather analog in it’s design. This is both a response to our feedback from Partnership for Parks and from our own observations in testing our prototypes. It’s easy for people to cut out shapes and construct a character, and to fill in blanks on a postcard.

While we’ve designed this research tool for Soundview Park in particular, we feel this platform can be used for any park around New York City that lacks a sense of identity.

Locast, as we mentioned before, gives us the opportunity to move forward. It allows us to envision how this project could be scaled up.

We’ve gone ahead to envision how LoCast might be developed in the future to accompany our project.

Tales of ______ LoCast allows the community to geolocate short, everyday videos they capture in a place. It engages both makers and viewers in the current happenings one finds in their day to day life.