INTERACTION & INTERFACE
PlayPhilly
© 2011
Giacomo Ciminello Kristin Freese
The Urban Playground Project Published by
211 South Broad Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102 Copyright Š 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese Photography credits: All photography created by © 2011 Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese unless otherwise noted. Pages 32, 33, © 2011 Didter Faustino; Pages 40, Architectural Archives of University of Pennsylvania; Pages 48, 49, © 1988 William Whyte; Page 81, © 2011 Nelson Almeida/Getty Images; Pages 86, 90, 97, © 2010 City of Philadelphia/Mural Arts Program; Page 97 © 2009 DesignPhiladelphia; Page 95, © 2011 Immersa Marketing; Page 95, © 2011 Molly Crabapple; Page 94, © 2010 Andy Uprock; Pages 100, 103, © 2011 Banksy; Page 102, © 2010 Swindle Magazine; Pages 102, 103, © 2010 Shepard Fairey; Page 103, © 2010 SPY; Page 103, © 2010 Graffiti Research Labs; Pages 103, © 2009 Swoon; Page 105, © 2010 Yvette Condes; Page 106, © 2010 Galenfry Singer; Page 106, © 2009 Bryan Chan; Page 108, © 2009 NL Architects; Page 109, © Stefan Sagmeister, 2009; Page 110, © 2009 Gen Yamamoto; Page 111, © 2009 Marti Guixe; Page 146, © 2010 Bruce Winterton; All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced– mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying– without written permission of the publisher. Cover design by Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese Book design by Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese Masters of Industrial Design at The University of the Arts 212 South Broad Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102 First printing June 2011
Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for degree of Master of Industrial Design at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA by Giacomo Ciminello and Kristin Freese
Approved by
committee chair beth van why
211 South Broad Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102 Copyright Š 2011
director jonas milder
Abstract The urban landscape of center city Philadelphia can best be described as a series of concrete thoroughfares – pathways to other places. Vast spans of impermeable surface intended for pedestrian walkways and social hubs are vacant, under appreciated, and wasted. This thesis aims to address these problems by synthesizing research gained from a review of literature and human centered design methods conducted in the field such as interviews and observations. Using play as a design strategy we discovered new ways to generate User feedback, make site observations, catalog data, and strengthen a sense of community, even if temporarily. We believe that with a little creativity and motivation, people can revitalize their space. Play sparks innovation, improves social interactions, is fun and free! By using acts of play can we stimulate urban environments and improve peoples’ experiences in a city? We were about to find out. This thesis defines the characteristics that classify a space as ‘depressed’ and the necessary methods for locating, cataloging and eventually revitalizing them. It hopes to show that by using acts of play to create positive social interactions, urban spaces can be “revitalized” and given new roles as integrating spaces in the urban landscape at surprisingly little cost.
Dedicated to the inner child in all of us.
Acknowledgements A special thanks to all those involved in the shaping of our project. We couldn’t shouldn’t or wouldn’t have learned so much with out you. The “Users” or working class of downtown Philadelphia. All the people that looked up, stopped working so much, and asked a question. Lynn Washington, Temple University; Cheryl Ann Puolos; Dana Pulli; Gary Steuer, Office of the Arts & Creative Economy. Jane Golden, Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia; Alex Gillman, Public Workshop; Oron Daskal, Northbowl Lounge & Lanes; Andrew & Katherine Warner, Carbon 14; Fellow students Donovan Preddy, Matthew Miller, Mike Smith, Georgia Guthrie, Nicolas Coia, Armande Esteves and Benjamin Farahmand who went above and beyond in the aid and support of the project. To the ever tolerant Will McHale & Tony Guido for us basically taking over the 5th floor with our endless projects. To Sherry Lefevre for assisting with writing and always willing to play devils advocate. Human observing and play expert Anna Beresin. To our committee, especially our chair Beth Van Why whose guidance kept us out of jail. Jonas Milder and family, who inspired us to push our ideas further and to have fun doing it.
STUFF
TABLE OF CONTENTS
P REFACE.
11
A Philadelphia Timeline: DNA of a City
C H A P T E R I . An Invisible Crisis
19 Center City 101: The Problem Statement 20 Hypothesis C H A P T E R I I . Urban Assessment
27 28 34
Center City 102: Statistically Speaking Burned Bacon: Philadelphia’s Most Influential Urban Planner Whyte Spaces: The Godfather of Public Space Analysis
Methods:
39 Observations 46 Interviews 50 Synthesis: The City is Designed for Work C H A P T E R I I I . Image of a City
65 66
Center City 103: A Broken Heart Visual Culture: The Social Perception of Public Space
72 74 79 80 89
Public Art: Philadelphia
The Full Spectrum Mural Arts: A History of Urban Revitalization Mural Fatigue Permanent vs. Temporary Street Art on the Rise
Case Studies 92 Millennium Park, Chicago 94 Younge-Dundas Square, Toronto 96 Urban Playground, Amsterdam 101 Synthesis: Center City Does Not Properly Represent or Support the Citizens C H A P T E R I V . Making a Case for Play
109
Center City 104: Play at Work
110 112
Global Play Culture:
Time for a Cultural Shift Some Interesting, Unconventional Playgrounds from Around the World
117 121
Urban Spaces: Space Time, Place Occasion Social Interactions & Well-Being: Playmates
124
Play Benefits:
Play Types:
Play Types: Standard Dr. Recommended
128 Synthesis C H A P T E R V.
Playphilly
136
Center City 105: Creativity is the Opposite of Routine
142 152 154
Playphilly is:
A Brand A System An Interactive Tool
158 160
Social Interventions For Urban Revitalization The Plays
New Methods For Documentation
164
Grassroots Mapping
The Playbook
Creating Tools for Dialogue
174 178
Site Board Big Chalkers
C H A P T E R V . Summary
198 206 214
Project Outcomes Final Questions A Celebration of 3D Graffiti
233
A P P E N D I X I . Glossary
237
A P P E N D I X I I . Methods Templates
243
A P P E N D I X I I I . Web Site
269
A P P E N D I X I V . Aerial Photography
289
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“
�
By the year 2009, no part of Philadelphia is ugly or depressed.
ED BACON
ar iladelphia in the Ye from the essay, Ph 59. 2009, written in 19
3
5
7
9
1690 First paper mill 1698 First public school 1719 The first newspaper, The American Weekly Mercury 1728 The first botanical gardens 1729 The first treatise against slavery published 1731 First Public Library 1749 The first company of American stage players 1749 First scientific institution 1751 First hospital devoted to the relief of the sick and suffering, 1762 First school of anatomy 1766 First permanent theatre house 1774 First Anti-Slavery Society. 1775 First pianoforte manufactured 1777 The United States Flag on record 1780 First public bank 1784 The first daily paper 1785 The first agriculture society 1789 The first Congress of the United States 1789 Ben Franklin, Library Company of Philadelphia 1790 The first Stock Exchange 1790 George Washington, Washington Square 1792 First Mint of the United States 1792 William Penn, Pennsylvania Hospital, Pine St. Garden 1799-1801 The first public water system -The Philadelphia Water Works 1805 Opening of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1827 First Horticultural Society 1847 The first Zoological Garden 1851 First Institute for the teaching of useful arts t 1871-1901 City Hall, Broad & Market 1871 Abraham Lincoln, Kelly Drive at 1872 First private, nonprofit organiz art and urban planning, The Fairmoun 1876 The first World’s Fair in this 1876 The first Department Store 1876 St. George and the Dragon, 1889 William Warner Tom 1890 Joan of Arc, Kelly D 1892 William Penn Pen
DNA OF A CITY
A PHILADELPHIA TIMELINE
to wage-earning youths
t Sedgely Drive zation dedicated to integrating public nt Park Art Association s country e, Wanamakers , West river Drive at Black Road mb, Central Laurel Hill Drive at 25th St. nn Square, Broad & Market 1901 Mummer Celebration is sponsored by the City of Philadelphia 1902-4 The Thinker, by Rodin, Benjamin Franklin Parkway 1924 Swann Memorial Fountain {Fountain of 3 Rivers}, Logan Circle, Benjamin Franklin Parkway 1928 “The Art Museum,” officially opens to the public 1938 Ben Franklin, 20th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway 1943 Prometheus Strangling the Vulture, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Parkway entrance 1950 Playing Angels, Kelly Drive at Fountain Green Drive 1959 Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority adopts the first “ One Percent for Fine Arts” program in the U.S., making the commissioning of new works of public art integral to the urban renewal process. 1966 Society Hill Towers Fountain, M.Pei
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1969 Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Fountain, Vincent King 1969 Children Playing, Sarala Ruth Pinto 1974 Dilworth Plaza Fountain 1974 Covenant, Alex Liberman 1975 Face Fragment, MonellnChemical Center, 3500 Market 1976 Clothes Pin, by Claes Oldenburg, Center Square Plaza, 15th & Market 1976 Love, Robert Indiana, John F. Kennedy Plaza, 15th & JFK Blvd. 1976 Government of the People, Jacques Lipchitz 1976 Ghost Structures, Venturi, Brown & Rauch 1980 Rocky Statue, Philadelphia Art Museum 1981 Split Button, by Claes Oldenburg, Between 34th & 36th, Locust & Spruce 1982 Phoenix Rising, Emlen Etting 1984 The Chinatown Gate, 10th & Arch 1984 Bolt of Lightning, Isamu Noguchi 1984 Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network (PAGN) is founded, headed by Jane Golden . 1985 PAGN paints its first mural, Life in the City. 1987 One Liberty Place -Helmut Jahn 1989 Mural Dr. J , by famous portrait muralist Kent Twitchell. 1990 Two Liberty Place 1990 Mellon Bank Center 1990 G. Fred DiBona Jr. Building 1991 Bell Atlantic Tower 1991 PAGN completes its 1,000th mural, Pathology of Devotion, by Vincent Desiderio 1992 One Commerce Square 1992 Commerce Square Fountain 1994-current Zagar South St. Gardens Isaiah Zagar 1996 Your Move, Martinez, Petropoulis, & White 1997 The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the Philly Fringe, and the LAB program serve local, national, and international artists of all disciplines and levels of achievement through the platforms of. 1999 Chestnut St. Bus Shelters, Pablo Tauler 2000 The Mural Arts Program completes its 2,000th mural, Liberty by Peter Pagast 2001 The Mural Arts Program becomes part of the city’s social services division, the Department of Human Services, and begins working in homeless shelters, prisons, youth detention centers, and with adjudicated youth. 2003 Philadelphia is known as America’s “City of Murals.” 2005 Design Philadelphia emerged to make the case for the way in which design is central to every city’s economic, social and cultural growth. 2006 Lifelines, Barbara Grygutis 2006 Main Quad Fountain, Hargreaves Associates 2007 The Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby established, whose mission is to strengthen the physical, social, and economic fabric of the community by being a catalyst for sustainable development and community building. 2008 Comcast Center, Robert A. M. Stern Architects 2009 Residences at the Ritz-Carlton 2010 Mural Arts and Philadelphia native, New York-based artist Stephen Powers collaborate to create Love Letter, a public art project consisting of a series of 50 rooftop murals 2011 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts is made up of moments. Moments of inspiration. Power. Emotion. Grace. Passion.
1700 Innovation
1800 Sculpture
Architecture
Water Features
Murals
Art & Culture
1900
2000
15
THE INVISIBLE CRISIS. People can not imagine something that they haven’t experienced, nor can they envision how it could help them in their daily lives.
THE PLAYGROUND Our studies limited us to the area between JFK and Walnut from Broad Street to 20th. An area we referred to as “The Playgound.”
The Urban Playground Project
P REFACE
PROBLEM STATEMENT The public spaces between buildings foster mundane routine behavior, are disconnected with the natural world and fail to support the positive social interactions proven to increase happiness, productivity and well-being of individuals and community. Half of the world’s population currently lives in cities. And the number continues to grow. Philadelphia is the fifth-mostpopulous city in the United States and is the nation’s fourth-largest urban area by population. The city has a long rich claim to many of the nation’s ‘first’s’; the first capital, hospital, zoo, park, bank, prison and not surprisingly, display of public art – a marble figure of Ben Franklin dating back to1792 (Bach). During The Industrial Revolution the growth of factories changed the lives and landscape of people and places in Philadelphia. People left their life on the farm and moved to the city with hopes of getting jobs in new factories. The city’s population shares a series of concrete thoroughfares – passages to other places. The public spaces do not foster a sense of community, support
social interactions, nor do they create a culture within the city. Successful civic downtowns and public spaces are detrimental to a city’s image. As downtown jobs become a series of mundane tasks requiring an operator and a computer, progressively staring at screens, people are becoming increasingly disconnected with things that are real, such as face-to-face conversations and elements from nature.
a better sense of community? Spark social change? Create a better working environment? Before beginning to answer these questions on play and its effects, there needed to be a better understanding of the downtown spaces themselves. Who are its Users? What function do the spaces actually serve? Where is the space in relation to other spaces and Users?
The current urban landscape of downtown Philadelphia does not accurately represent the people who live and work there. This is not new news. As a matter of fact, there are currently two major renovation projects in the works to improve some of the downtown areas being addressed in this thesis: Dillworth Plaza and Lenfest Plaza. If spaces in a city are there to serve a workforce, then it is a safe presumption that the space itself can either motivate or depress the people within them. The proverbial phrase “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” now garners some serious attention. Can acts of play be used to energize a space? Create
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HYPOTHESIS
If opportunities to play are provided in urban spaces, individuals and communities will engage in positive social interactions; which will help enrich public spaces, strengthen civic morale and improve well-being.
The Urban Playground Project
P reface architect Didier Faustino “Double Happiness”, 2011
21
P reface
IDENTIFY METHODS RESEARCH OBSERVATION INTERVIEW CHARACTER PROFILES MAPPING PROTOTYPING SYNTHESIS
EXECUTE
VISUALIZE
The Urban Playground Project
P reface
HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN PROCESS As master students of industrial design at the University of the Arts, we apply the human centered design process to solve problems and create sensible solutions while pushing the boundaries of technology, design thinking and methodology. Human centered design is – in addition to being a process and methods – it is at the core, about using humans to design for humans with the intent of helping humans by improving human lives, and enriching the human experience. We believe that with the evolution of design – from industry to information – good solutions exist more often as complex intangible things such as: methods, systems, interfaces, networks, processes, business models, movements, etc., as opposed to only products and objects. Whether a physical tool or a system, the design of something is the result of synthesized data from experiencing the HCD process. Human Centered Design Process: Identify-Visualize-Execute On both a macro and countless micro levels we honored this cyclical process throughout the course of this project. Our approach was to first identify a problem (this is typically the
largest phase because it encompasses the majority of research – both the literary and field methods – which are crucial to obtaining accurate information about the User). Next we visualize the information into ideas we can execute, and then synthesize the outcomes to infer future reiterations, variations, and development of the proposed solution. In this case, you repeat the process by identifying what went wrong, then visualize what you could do differently, so on and so forth. We recommend mocking up as many quick prototypes as possible and repeating the design process until the desired solution is achieved. To navigate through this project, we will follow the HCD process we used, and along the way showcase some of the tools and methodologies created to address a serious problem right here in the heart of Philadelphia: the urban blight of the downtown public spaces. As a solution to this problem, we will explore “play” as a potential tool for urban revitalization. 23
URBAN ASSESSMENT Developing a better understanding of the city spaces.
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
CENTER CITY 16% Financial Services & Real Estate 23% Management, Professional & Tech Services
5% Information 6% Business Services & Support
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
20% Educational & Health Services
PERCENT OF PHILADELPHIA
PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYMENT
12% Leisure & Hospitality
Center City Philadelphia’s downtown district 5% Retail simultaneously houses the 3% Manufacturing & Construction third largest concentration 3% Wholesale Trade, of workforce in the U.S. and Transportation & Utilities a5%plethora of scientifically Other Services proven unsuccessful public S ource: LE D, On the M ap A pplication, B LS /U S Cens us B ureau, 2010 spaces.
3% UNIVERSITY CITY
10%
TEMPLE
UNIVERSITY & HOSPITAL
39%
35% Walk
NAVY YARD
25% Transit
1%
DAILY
COMMUTE 29% Drive 6% Work from Home 5% Bike S ource: CCD, 2009
S ource: CCD, 2010
CENTER CITY
Urban Assessment
WORKFORCE POP.
267,331 16% Financial Services & Real Estate
providing work for nearly half of Center City Residents
23% Management, Professional & 16% Financial Tech Services Services & Real Estate 5% Information 23% Management, 6% Business& Professional Services & Support Tech Services 20% Educational 5% Information & Health Services 6% Business Services & Support 12% Leisure 20% Educational & Hospitality & Health Services 12% Leisure 5% Retail & Hospitality 3% Manufacturing & Construction 5% 3% Retail Wholesale Trade, Transportation & Utilities 3% Manufacturing
& Construction 5% Other Services 3% Wholesale Trade, S ource: LE D, On the M ap A pplication, B LS /U S Transportation & Utilities
Cens us B ureau, 2010 EMPLOYMENT PRIVATE-SECTOR
5% Other Services
BY JOB TYPE
S ource: LE D, On the M ap A pplication, B LS /U S Cens us B ureau, 2010
35% Walk
PHILADELPHIA HAS THE SECOND-MOST OCCUPIED DOWNTOWN IN THE NATION, WITH ITS OFFICE SPACES BOASTING
89%
CAPACITY.
27
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
BURNED BACON
EDWARD BACON: PHILADELPHIA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL URBAN PLANNER From his opening sentence in his essay Philadelphia in the Year 2009, Ed Bacon showed his compassion for the values in which Philadelphia was originally designed. His modern vision for Center City in 1959: a series of pedestrian walkways linking the underground transportation hubs with street level plazas and sidewalks; waterfronts bustling with people and activity; and entire streets dedicated to the User for shopping, eating and the various entertainments that a city could afford; was a dream anchored in a time of optimism in the face of urban blight. As ideological as his plan may have been, it is easy to look back and see its failures. The end of the Industrial North, Federal Highway Act, and the cultural uprisings of the 1960s all tarnished a once bright opportunity Philadelphia had before it. Many criticize Bacon in how his vision never fully came true, or was too modernized for a city so rich with tradition and values. The critics often put Bacon in the same club as Ed Logue in Boston, and Robert Moses in NY, comparing their accomplishments to his. What most people don’t realize is Bacon didn’t have the power or political wherewithal as Logue and Moses. Many of the plans fell short due to city council jockeying and grassroots upheaval.
Many of his projects discovered growth through tricky PR moves and what one may consider early viral marketing efforts to lure well-to-do suburbanites back to the city. Truth is, after his retirement, city planning in Philadelphia has taken a turn for the worse, as signs of failed development projects litter the downtown in the form of above ground parking lots. Chestnut Street Concourse as envisioned by Ed Bacon
Edmund Bacon (right) with staff member R. Damon Childs looking over a model of I.M. Pei’s Society Hill Towers
Urban Assessment
“
THE FUTURE OF PHILADELPHIA WILL BE DETERMINED, NOT BY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES BUT BY THE CHARACTER OF ITS LEADERSHIP AND BY THE STRENGTH AND QUALITY OF THE IDEA IT SUPPORTS.
”
29
Literature Review
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
BACONOMICS
Convention Center,
JFK Park
* Comcast Center
Market East Dilworth Plaza Avenue of the Arts
* Midtown Village
Philadelphia’s Most Influential Urban Planner
Urban Assessment
* Delaware River Waterfront
Franklin Square
Independence Mall
Bacon, and many others like him, anticipated bustling sunken plazas and thriving underground shops rather than the socially handicapped spaces we experience now. Since 2007, the climate has changed. Realizing that in order to stimulate economic and populace growth, the city has pushed planning back into its primary focus. Developments to dramatically change its highway system and waterfront, as well as Market Street east of city hall are well underway. But at what cost? How engaged are the public? What influence have they had over the design of their civic space? This information is not surprising. Recent studies conducted by social scientists and urban planners are declaring the disappearance of public space, arguing that urban residents are constantly remaking public space and redefining the public sphere through their lived experience (Crawford, 1995). Margaret Crawford of Southern
California Institute of Architecture states in Contesting the Public Realm: Struggles over Public Space in Los Angeles that, “We begin to recognize a multiplicity of simultaneous public interactions that are restructuring urban space, producing new forms of insurgent citizenship, and reveling new political arenas for democratic action (Crawford, 1995).� These current declarations about the evolution of public space can be applied to most U.S. cities, including Philadelphia. The article implies that Philadelphia has an opportunity to revitalize wasted spaces in Center City. The public spaces doubling as urban voids could instead provide a wealth of affordances to citizens and tourists alike. Upon researching this problem further, countless websites and organizations dedicated to the improvement of public space are brought to light; some that provided step-by-step guides, tools and resources on how to do it.
Washington Square Legend areas of redevelopement
2007 - current 1990 - 2006 * project spearheaded by private developers
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Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
The book, Achieving Great Federal Public Spaces: A property Managers Guide, supplies the meaning, importance and value of successful public spaces as well as a means to address them. It states: “Local governments are also catching on to the value of public spaces to their civic districts and downtowns. Many projects are coming about now because public officials, planners and citizens alike are beginning to understand that public life– meaning active, vital public spaces– is essential to the economic and social well-being of city centers (Administration 2009).” This book explains how public spaces can function as extensions of the communities in which they are located. It also defines the benefits of great civic places by stating: “Not only do better public spaces enrich the lives of the people who use them, they also make surrounding neighborhoods more desirable, attracting investment and spurring revitalization. They endow the civic realm with credibility and prestige – not just visually, but also by providing a sense of community and a forum for public activity. They anchor downtowns, acting as foundations for healthy growth. All of these benefits add up to greater livability (Administration 2009).” Upon learning this, is the city of Philadelphia was not addressing their very obvious problem of blight in urban spaces around city hall and downtown? Do they not understand the value of good public space, art and image? Or are the citizens to blame for not caring about interacting with each other and the environment? As it turns out, they do.
PROPOSED DILWORTH RENOVATION
Philadelphia’s Most Influential Urban Planner
Urban Assessment
All eyes will be on City Hall as the Dilworth renovation promises to bring more green space, a water feature, outdoor cafĂŠ and a flexible event space. For the low cost of $90 million, you too can add green and blue.
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Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
WHYTE SPACES WILLIAM H. WHYTE: EVALUATING URBAN SETTINGS
William H. Whyte, space guru
The most logical place to begin to understand the evaluation of public spaces is with William Whyte, the godfather of public space analysis. William H. Whyte (1917-1999) was the first person to extensively study the social life of public spaces. He pioneered numerous observation methods for studying pedestrian behavior in urban settings that are still copied today. His interest in human behaviors and city dynamics began while he was working for the New York City Planning Commission in 1969. (Project for Public Spaces, 2010) Whyte, a West Chester, Pennsylvania native, also spent time observing public spaces in Philadelphia. He references these spaces in his glorified book, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. In this book he states that, “The social life in
public spaces contributes fundamentally to the quality of life of individuals and society.” He suggested that we have a moral responsibility to create physical places that facilitate civic engagement and community interaction. (Project for Public Spaces, 2010) The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces points out very specific guidelines for evaluating the functionality, effectiveness and perceived value of shared space in cities. The key elements he used to determine this were: sitting space, sun, wind, trees, water, food, and proximity to the street. His studies proved that people show inclination to station themselves near objects, such as flagpoles or statues. They like well-defined places, such as steps, or the border of a pool. People rarely choose to situate themselves in the middle of a large space. Whyte found that sculpture has strong social effects. He stated that, 1 “People are drawn to sculpture,
and drawn through it: they stand under it, beside it, they touch it, and they talk about it.”
Whyte emphasized the importance of public art and sculpture by stating, 2 “Public sculpture, especially works
with interactive qualities, can be directly linked to the social vitality of a space.”
Most applicable to the problem in Center City Philadelphia’s public space design is Whyte’s research findings on bi-level plazas. He writes that, 3 “Unless there is a compelling
reason, an open space should never be sunk. With two or three notable exceptions, sunken plazas are dead spaces.You find few people in them; if there are stores, they are apt to find vacancies.”
The biggest single reason for poorly designed public spaces, is 4 – fear of occupation by
‘undesirables’ or the homeless.
They are not themselves as much of the problem, as are the measures taken to combat them. Many businessmen have an almost obsessive fear that if a place is attractive to people, it will be attractive to undesirable people. So it is made unattractive on purpose, and the result is poor spaces for everyone.
Evaluating Urban Settings
Urban Assessment
THE WHYTE ASSESSMENT 2
1
4
3
“
”
WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE MOST TO A SPACE, IT WOULD APPEAR, IS OTHER PEOPLE.
Dilworth Plaza Whyte advocated for a new way of designing public spaces – one that was bottom-up, not top-down. Using his approach, design should start with a thorough understanding of the way people use spaces, and the way they would like to use spaces (Project for Public Spaces, 2010).
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SPACE USAGE
SOCIAL DYNAMICS
INDIVIDUALS
SUNLIGHT
TRAFFIC PATTERNS
PLAYSPACE
SEATING
USE PATTERNS
INDIGENTS
DIVERSITY
GROUP DYNAMICS
PEOPLE WATCHING
Evaluating Urban Settings
Whyte defined methods of urban data collection by recording aerial photography, conducting extensive interviews and observing in fine detail the behaviors of humans in and around public spaces during all times of day. He concludes that: “What attracts people most to a space, it would appear, is other people.” Whyte suggests designing public space for the person who is going to sit awhile, to make places friendly and invite street performers into spaces instead of banning them. A street performance increases the odds of triangulation – that process by which some external stimulus provides a linkage between people and prompts strangers to talk to each other as though they were not (Whyte 1980). Triangulation has the power of creating an instantaneous sense of community, when it previously did not exist. In most circumstances, it signifies a positive social interaction -one that bonds people. It is not always the excellence of the act that is important, but rather its obscurity. Whyte notes that, In the presence of a really bad street performance, triangulation is almost a guarantee. Sometimes a really bad act will work even better than a good one. One of the best of the bad is a young magician whose pattern is so corny and predictable that you are virtually forced into conversation with your neighbor. The chances of triangulation are much greater when public art – not limited to performance, are present in a space.
Urban Assessment
public art on public spaces, but also the presence of people. Whyte suggests that people vote for spaces with their feet – they use spaces that are easy to use, that are comfortable. They don’t use the spaces that are not (Project for Public Spaces, 2010). Applying Whyte’s theories on public space to City Center Philadelphia would assist in the revitalization of the urban landscape. Adding green space, seating and sculpture that can be touched would enhance the experience of Philadelphia for its citizens and visitors. According to Whyte, people delegated the vitality of a space. This made it plausible to assume that blight in public spaces, although designed for failure, could be revitalized without expensive construction, but by the artistic vigor of the people residing in Philadelphia. If a feasible solution to the improvement of public spaces lies in harnessing the creative class, than we needed to figure out just how active and motivated the people in Philadelphia’s arts and culture scene are. Who are the current Users of the downtown spaces, and do they recognize them as blight? The assessment of Center City public spaces, as based on Whyte’s book, is a far cry from successful. There are numerous empty sunken plazas; a large population of ‘undesirables’, extremely limited seating and green space and public art that fails to entertain or capture the civic pride of the people that call Philadelphia home.
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His findings prove not only the importance of temporal and permanent William H. Whyte’s film the Social Life of Small Urban Places, released in 1988, set the tone for spacial observation by documenting the social dynamics of multiple downtown city spaces, the people within them, and their uses by those people.
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
OBSER VATION
FIELD RESEARCH METHOD
Understanding, documenting, and classifying space types and Users in Center City Philadelphia. For two weeks during various hours of the day, public observation in the specific downtown sites were being addressed as ‘The Playground’: Love Park/JFK Plaza, ‘Your Move’ Plaza, Dillworth Plaza and The Penn Plazas. ‘The Playground’ is a collection of large concrete voids – public spaces, surrounding Philadelphia City Hall. This area is Philadelphia’s prime civic center and an attraction for visitors. It is highly populated, yet unappreciated and under-utilized. To most, these sections of the city are thoroughfares – or passageways to other places. In observing each site, a few key differences separate out the User groups, and define the sites usage themselves. Items such as public transportation access points, building office demographics, proximity to food services, and what William Whyte would call ‘features an urban space needs to support human life’, all define a space’s personality. With that personality being half the coin, visual traffic patterns during 3 key points during the day that the space would be most populated became the first clues – morning (8-9 am ), lunch (12:30-1:30 pm), and afternoon (5-6pm)) to determine the User.
The Playground areas that were observed
Field Research
Urban Assessment
MAPPING While sitting and observing public spaces around center city Philadelphia we would ‘map’ paths of pedestrians. Information gathered was: age, sex, location, movement and time of day. We noticed several patterns associated with movement and proximity within a space. Patterns revealed peoples’ natural tendencies to adhere to a schedule or routine. Users rarely, if ever, stopped to notice the environment they were in. The moments Users spent paused in one place, and not in pursuit of their next destination, was to smoke cigarettes. Even then, people hardly spoke to one another. The cigarette became a shield from socialization. Instead of workers chatting over a smoke, they were keeping to themselves, avoiding eye contact or conversation.
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Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
Penn 2 Plaza is the beginning of a concrete corridor stretching 4 city blocks LOCATION
PENN 2 PLAZA
SPACE TYPE
TRANSITIONAL
Users
Students, White Collar Office Employees, Municipal Workers, Bicycle Messengers, Smokers, Mass Transit Users, Blue Collar Workers
3 - 1 Male Audience
A large span located at Penn 2 Plaza connects 15th and 16th Street, as well as a cut-through from Market to JFK Boulevard. It has two large buildings tailoring its footprint. 2 Penn Center on the North face is an office building consisting mainly of lawyers (60%), real-estate developers (12%) and food/retail investors (25%). The South side of the plaza is bordered by Temple University’s Center City Campus, which houses many of their graduate studies in urban planning and development. So our initial assumption was mid-late 20s, young professionals, and mid to late 40s white collar professionals.
Field Research
Overhead views of the plaza reveal some traffic on the edges, with the middle reserved for places of rest
A survey of the traffic patterns opened up more possibility than had been originally considered, and allowed for linkage into groups not represented in the spaces. Large subway entrances sit at both ends of the plaza. A copious amount of municipal workers and city workers exit through the Eastern entrance, and they head toward City Hall or the Municipal Services building. As time progresses, less formally dressed Users head solely in the direction of Municipal services, or the courthouse, both due East. Many from the West exit circle around to the 7-Eleven on the Northwestern corner of 2 Penn and continue North. Each User to this point walks with intent, taking the most straightforward route through the space as possible. They are on a schedule. As lunch approaches, there is a bit more meandering. More heads glance around to take in their surroundings. More people stop, and make conscious decisions in the direction that they choose. This type of movement is coined as the Lunch Conundrum Diversion; it could be noted that many did in fact, swerve to either of the food options located on the ground floor. A new User entered the fray during lunch hour as well, the bicycle messenger. The plazas are most heavily trafficked around the edges, so the center area offers a speedy cut-through for our pedal-driven ambassadors. A second User not yet considered makes an appearance, the Smoker. The
Urban Assessment
People treat spaces as they envision them in their own mind
ousted rebel seeks refuge in the less wind-blown areas of the plaza, hidden from the street. They often stand alone as their numbers may be dwindling in this day and age. Rush hour serves as a summary of the stakeholders noted thus far, with a few new wrinkles. Besides the 20-something students, 30-40 something white collar workers, and municipal workers all sporting their ID badges and Center City District coats, the bike messengers and the smokers, there are the security guards changing shifts, and teenagers. The teens travel in small packs of 4 or 5. They pass through this plaza in an effort to get to another, Love Park. The User decidedly missing from this survey is tourists. With City Hall to the East, Comcast Center to the West, and Avenue of the Arts to the south, this space offers great cut-through potential for the wary traveler. But a quick, “Excuse me, where are you headed? Where are you from?” garnered no evidence of anyone without purpose moving through the space. Beyond the first User set, all of this visual data tells us that this downtown man-made space is a ‘time efficient’ one. No place to relax. No need to stop. Its most current use is as a passing lane, 10 mph faster than the speed limit and no looking back.
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The Urban Playground Project
Municipal Services Plaza is home to the sculpture ‘Your Move’ which was installed in 1996. LOCATION
MUNICIPAL SERVICES PLAZA
SPACE TYPE
TRANSITIONAL PLAYGROUND
Users
Children, Commuters, Municipal Workers, Mass Transit Users, Blue Collar Workers
1 - 1 Male to Female Audience
Nothing stands out in the vacant gray lots more than a sculpture. The object itself doesn’t matter, as anything not concrete or lying on the ground typically breaks the normal protocols of a space. Artists notice these objects immediately. Most are over-sized, making them large enough to be seen from the tall buildings around. They should be a draw. As William Whyte discovered, public sculpture can dramatically change a space. People love to interact, touch, and explore tactile giants. There is no better place to observe this theory in action than the Your Move sculpture garden in the plaza of the Municipal Services Building. Artists Daniel Martinez, Renee Petropoulis, and Roger White designed this installation specifically for the Municipal Services Building Plaza. Your Move is comprised of oversized game pieces including dominoes, Monopoly, Parcheesi, checkers, chess and bingo chips. Scattered around the plaza the whimsical artwork installation is intended to function as a catalyst for memory between childhood memory and adult responsibility. On warm sunny days, the piece is quite effective. Children
Field Research
Many Users walk atop the game pieces, often adding that slight adjustment in their path in order to do so
and adults alike move about the space jumping on the various pieces, using them to rest, or attempting to move them about. Users can be seen moving toward their favorite Monopoly piece to have their photo taken with it. Overall, for an outside visitor or tourist, the garden has a good sense of color and possibility. On the dreariest of days, picture taking and frolicking gives way to the commuting traveler once again, as the north and southeast corners give way to the subway, and the southwest corner is a large bus station hub. Most Users are dressed casually, sporting jeans and sneakers. Sometimes with a child or, holding paperwork of some sort. They frequently access the transportation points, as well as the Municipal Services main entrance. This leads us to believe that a large majority of the Users through here are not downtown for work. A quick, “What brings you here today?” question affirms this observation with responses ranging from, “taxes, taxes, taxes” to “hitting up the bus to the Main Line.” Where the plaza fails is in its upkeep and actual ability to play.
Urban Assessment
Overhead photos of the plaza reveal a playful nature
Most of the pieces are constructed of metal, making them impossible to run off with even if they weren’t bolted down. This leaves the entire space actually a series of divergent obstacles with paint chipping off revealing their steel core. But why not make something slightly more mobile? More interactive? An actual oversized chessboard for instance, for Users to challenge each other would make for an exceptional performance event, rather than just a static image.
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Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
JFK Plaza more commonly known as LOVE park is one of Philadelphia’s most iconic locations LOCATION
JFK PLAZA (LOVE PARK)
SPACE TYPE
RECREATIONAL PLAYGROUND
Users
The main issue with these spaces thus far, is that the Users seemed mainly intent in getting quickly through to a transportation point of some kind. So we sought out a “control site”. One that a User would be going out of their way to access any sort of public transportation system. So the third plaza in our trinity is the famously notable, LOVE Park. LOVE Park (JFK Plaza) was built in the 1960s at the eastern end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and across from City Hall. In the late 1980s, by an accident of history, young people discovered that the park’s curving stairs and ledges were perfect for skateboarding.
Teenagers, Tourists, Passerbys, Homeless
1.5 - 1 Male to Female Audience
Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture is one of the few things Philadelphia has global recognition for. Many a marriage proposal, site of inspiration, and photo moments take place in this plaza at a constant pace. During the day, the site is devoid of “city workers”. Instead, LOVE is populated by indigents, skateboarding youth, and tourists looking to get their picture below this Philadelphia icon. For how much the city “covets” this area, the park is vastly out of date and in disrepair. Each User group clicks to a section of the park. The indigents rest to the South side where there are benches and tree cover. The youth take to the round staircase just beyond the LOVE
Field Research
The observation deck atop City Hall offers tremendous views to observe the traffic flow in and around the park
statue itself. Couples also sit in this area, but on the opposite side of the youth. Tourists simply enter the space through the southeast entrance, take their photo, and leave in the same pattern in which they arrived. None of the Users appeared to have been dressed for work in the downtown sector, appeared rushed, or carrying their work with them. LOVE Park separates itself out from the previous plazas as having more greenspace, and little to few transportation hubs anchoring its corners. Thus classifying the space as not a through fare, but an area of rest.
Urban Assessment
If only the city showed more LOVE.
Where LOVE park fails is actually a city issue. The park is so globally recognized that Philadelphia covets it as a crown jewel of sorts for the downtown area. Thus, trying to take part in a recreational activity in the park is often shunned. Many organizations from arts to skateboard advocacy have strived to come to agreements with the city for more openness in holding events in the park. To this day the city restricts many events from taking place near LOVE in fear of damaging it as a tourist attraction.
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Observation to Determine Stakeholders
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
INTER VIEWS
FIELD RESEARCH METHOD
Understanding, documenting, and classifying the Users of spaces in Center City Philadelphia. Box O’Joe’s help reign in average joes.
Up to this point most of the visual keys of the observed Users helped make some educated guesses as to who exactly was using the plazas. However, who are the space travelers? An in-depth series of street interviews can help to better understand the User, their wants, needs and ultimate usage of a downtown city setting. Care should be taken, as people in large cities don’t like to be interrupted from their path, especially when they have to be somewhere. Also when it’s 20 degrees outside, most people become standoffish. Defensively they clutch their belongings tighter, and answer while they continue to walk. This method is not helped by the stigma of the Sidewalk Surveyors that swarm the populated corners of downtown Philadelphia nearly every day, rain or shine. In order to be extra efficient with the limited time available to do the interviews, profile sheets were drawn up so as to be able to quickly fill in answers to a varied list of questions. These sheets provided areas to sketch quick images, take notes, and of course, jot down relevant observational details. To also aid in comforting the User, coffee and donuts served as a good ice breaker during the frigid outdoor temperatures. America truly does run on Dunkin’.
Field Research
Urban Assessment
47 DESIGN TOOL To capture the most amount of relevant data possible and quickly, we generated profile templates to make sure that we had a complete “play� profile of our interviewee.
Urban Assessment
“
The Urban Playground Project
”
I have a fairly daily routine.
Interviewee: Laura Location: Municipal Plaza
Lawyer
Laura stood near the bus stop, and by near I mean roughly 20 feet away. She was dressed as you would expect any lawyer to on a blistery cold day: thick, three-quarter length peat coat, black, much like the power suit that was peeking out from underneath. Black that is, not peat. Her hair was pulled back, so as to not get in the way of her late 20s face. Curiously, a small diamond pierced her nose. Laura wasn’t from around here. She moved to Philadelphia just 2 months ago. She loves Philly for its spaces, even though her job won’t let her out to see them. “I have a fairly daily routine.” (There’s that word again), “I get up, jump on the bus, head to work, 9 to 5. Home.” Laura usually eats at her desk, “billable hours and all,” something simple from the sandwich shop in her building located at 17th and Market. When she heads home, it’s a relaxing affair with wine and television. She doesn’t work hard and play hard. Or hate the city life. In fact it is quite the opposite, but does a lawyers job really require such routine behavior? Do they need to lighten up?
Lawyer Interviewee: Dave Location: Turf Club near Penn 4 Plaza
Dave the lawyer of 12 years, at his firm on 17th and Market, doesn’t think anything is wrong with the big blank urban spaces. “They get me where I need to be. Rather quickly actually. I’m not bothered, nor do I want to be.” He lives at his desk, but goes out to lunch every day. When pushed further on the subject of spaces in the city, Dave spins the conversation quickly into a rant on vacant lots, like the one on 19th and Market. “Oh , wait yeah there was supposed to be a building going up in there.” was quickly retorted with, “There’s supposed to be a building in all the vacant lots, son.” Like a good lawyer, Dave countered our line of questioning, “What are you saying is the problem?” To which like a guilty witness there was no answer. Dave was a model of efficiency, and the “city has nothing to do, except take clients out to lunch in.” What Dave really opened up was the possibility of questioning purpose. Moving forward seemed to have a shift, a question needed to be answered. What exactly was the problem? Being in these spaces at night is certainly a problem.You can feel that sense of dread that our first interviewee had.Your eyes move back and forth through the moving shadows. There are even less people in them now than there was in daylight. The viability of Batman as an effective scare tactic is pondered.
Field Research
“
Urban Assessment
It’s an urban death trap to be
avoided at all costs.
Interviewee: Amanda Location: Penn 2 Plaza
” The Office Temp
Interviewee: Tim & Dave Location: Love Park
The Students
A late 20s small business owner who had to take a temp job to make ends meet. She was working this day at Penn 2 Center, and upon leaving had some time before her next train back to Port Richmond. She was quick to answer, and educated. Her answers didn’t hang up on “ums”, or “hmms”. She was quick to point out the barren nature of the space. That in fact, she was slightly scared of it, calling it an urban death trap to be avoided at all costs. She does go out of her way to get to the Septa entrance that would take her home. When asked further about her notions, she details the lack of direct sun most days, the ogre-ish planters, and seedy populace that pours in from the subway entrances. Amanda moves swiftly, head slightly down, having run this path before.
Tim and Dave are both students at Temple. They live in South Jersey and commute in for classes. Both are roughly 18 years old. Their persona is very nonchalant. To them, a young girl must stop them every day on the street, and ask them to chat for a while. They play the interview straight, showing nearly no emotion. They hide smiles, make jokes but hardly giggle. To them, this could be an opportunity to be on camera, and say something profoundly cool. They enjoy Center City for its spaces. It gives them places to hang out between classes. They offer it as the “cheap alternative,” as hanging out in coffee shops and book stores would lead to spending money, a commodity college students don’t have.
Although not very telling, Amanda does confirm that there are people that go out of their way to avoid such spaces. The spaces themselves play psychological warfare with you, serving as a means to keep you out (or in) your office. Amanda’s interview was also very telling in that she is a commuter. Her routine would have taken her down to the subway platform where she would have waited roughly 30 minutes for her next train. She chooses not to visit coffee shops, or sit outside in the sun. She just wants to be home, where she is safe, and comfortable, and to do so, she will hide underground.
After the interview they go past the LOVE statue barely acknowledging its presence, and sit on the steps below. It’s still roughly 20 degrees out, there’s snow on the ground, but Dave had mentioned earlier that this is pretty much their routine. When asked if they venture out much to shows, galleries or the like, they both said no, they prefer just to hang out in the city, “cause it’s the city”. So one can assume the Misfits shirt Tim was wearing was purchased off eBay.
“Outdoors in the fresh air, before being cooped up and stale.”
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The Urban Playground Project
s r
r s s rs s
s r
mapping our interviewee routes showed some astonishing routine behavior in their movement
Field Research
“
Urban Assessment
Interviewee: Cheryl Location: Dilworth Plaza
Work doesn’t give me a lot of free time. Mostly I am at my desk, plugging away on some issue. Architect
Interviewee: Mary Kate Location: Dilworth Plaza
“ “
”
This city is too gray. It’s so cold. It’s blah.
”
Graduate Student
Interviewee: Jack Location: Comcast Center
I walk everywhere. All the time. It could be the middle of a meeting and I will just get up and leave and go outside. This city is a great walking city. It gives you areas to think.
”
IT Manager
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Interviewee: Antoine Location: Penn 4 Plaza
“
I don’t know what it needs, maybe like, big canopies for when the weather is bad?
”
Security Guard
IDENTIFY
EXECUTE
VISUALIZE
FIELD RESEARCH SYNTHESIS As society goes through the motions of daily life, it has no opinion of a matter in which it cannot see. If they have never experienced it, then surely, it does not exist.
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
THE CITY IS DESIGNED FOR WORK
ROUTINE BEHAVIOR
Routines maximize productivity precisely by reducing human creativity. Someone else has created, and the worker only has to perform a series of predefined steps. The routine “amplifies� the effect of the innovation. The innovation can be very small and very infrequent, but the effect of the routine performed by many workers is to make that small innovation relevant for millions of individuals. The city is aiding their routine. Over a series of projected paths obtained through observation and interviews, it was discovered that each of our Users had a daily routine commute. A commute that much to our surprise did not vary in any major detail. Each User had painted a path from their house, to their respective workplace, and weather permitting, did not stray far from the course. Moving forward it seems the spaces, while flawed and expensive to change, provided ripe opportunity to simply create venues for spontaneous activity. The Users could benefit from breaks in routine. Questions abound; can we cheaply and efficiently get the Users to commit to a space? Can we foster social interactions in a physical realm? Virtual? What type of feedback can we receive from the Users? Can the Users themselves propose a creative idea that would benefit/interest the city?
Users@
2
Field Research Synthesis
Urban Assessment
PENN PLAZA SEX
APPROXIMATE AGE
28% 72% FEMALE
+ 50
12% 51% 36.5%
MALE
35 - 50
18 - 35
8-9 am
- 18
SEX
ETHNICITY
.5%
33% 4%
APPROXIMATE AGE
22% 78% FEMALE
+ 50
40% 57%
35 - 50
pm
18 - 35
- 18
SEX
ETHNICITY
3%
MALE
12-1
0% APPROXIMATE AGE
46% 54% FEMALE
+ 50
MALE
35 - 50
5-6 pm
18 - 35
- 18
67%
27% 38% 24% 11%
48% 1%
51%
ETHNICITY
55
53%
12% 35%
Urban Assessment
The Urban Playground Project
WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE?
?
Field Research Synthesis
Observing humans in their natural environment is a powerful design tool for gathering and documenting data true to fact. People themselves, when asked to recall, typically don’t know what actions they have just done. By discreetly observing ‘The Playground’ at different times of day we were able to track traffic patterns and note true User behaviors. Both the physical problems of the spaces in downtown center city as well as User behaviors were documented based on observation. The critical problems noted from the physical environment included aspects Whyte suggested such as: numerous vacant sunken plazas, lack of seating, green space, sun, food and people. Most importantly, the space was designed for work. Its function, as noted by Users, was to move people from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The downtown spaces in Center City Philadelphia are gray, flat, passive and still. Negative physical attributes of the bland urban landscape only fuel the docile behaviors of its Users. Routines were evident and deserve further attention and investigation, which we will go into more detail later. Presence of a modern ‘screen culture’ was also very apparent and should be noted.
Urban Assessment
As expected, the downtown public spaces are predominantly inhabited by working class commuters, students, tourists and suburbanites (using the municipal services), then finally ‘undesirables’, or homeless. For each of these Users, the space provides a different service. Kevin Lynch speaks to one’s ‘image of a city’ and its value. For each User a different ‘image’ of Philadelphia is created from their experiences in it. What a person observes infers their opinion, or bias, of a city. This fact suggests that it is not simply the physicalities of a space that make it successful or not, but the synergy of people.
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The Urban Playground Project
Field Research Synthesis
Urban Assessment
COLOR MAP 100 unaltered photos were transformed in 32-color gifs in Photoshop. These were the 32 most common colors in downtown Philadelphia.
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THE IMAGE AN OF A CITY INVISIBLE CRISIS. Understanding As society goesUser through perception the motions of space of daily life, it has no opinion of amatter in which it cannot see. If they have never experienced it, then surely, it does not exist.
Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
Image of a City
“
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A SOCIETY THAT IS CIVIL AND EDUCATED WITHOUT PUBLIC ART. IT LIFTS UP HUMANITY AND CHALLENGES THE INDIVIDUAL WHO ENCOUNTERS IT TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND THEM.
”
DARREN
WALKER 63
Image of a City
Image of a City
CENTER CITY, PHILA DELPHIA A BROKEN HEART
The urban landscape of City Center Philadelphia was designed to support the routine behaviors of the large population of office workers that use it. Public spaces between buildings are considered transitional. Unless being used to pass through, they remain vacant, unappreciated and under utilized. Throughout history has been a common misconception of public space design – that if a space is designed to provide a wealth of affordances for its Users, homeless ‘undesirables,’ will occupy it instead of working citizens and tourists.
This is the case in downtown Philadelphia; the heart of a place that boasts it is the city of brotherly love. And why this may be true in the hearts of its dwellers, a visitor may never feel or experience it if they are not given the opportunity to have positive social interactions in the heart of the city. The sense of community and rich, creative culture that currently exists in Philadelphia is lost in the empty concrete voids of the civic downtown -the center of the city.
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The Urban Playground Project
VISUAL CULTURE THE SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC SPACE
In an effort to better understand the social dynamics of public spaces, and how to improve them, one must understand how a User gains their perception of a space in the first place. The typical assumption is that it’s manifested from stable visual cues in architectural facades and the urban layout, but this is not entirely the case. Countless authors and respected urban planners throughout history have continued to prove this theory false.
Visual Culture
Image of a City
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Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
Kevin Lynch
In Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City he states, “Every citizen has had long associations with some part of his city, and his image is soaked in memories and meanings (Lynch 1960).” This book considers the visual quality of the American city by studying the mental image of that city which is held by its citizens. It concentrates especially on one particular visual quality: the apparent clarity or ‘legibility’ of the cityscape (Lynch 1960). The book cites Franklin Kilpatrick’s work on the process of perceptual learning forced on an observer by new stimuli that no longer fit into previous images. This is the way, he says, that we must learn to see hidden forms in the vast sprawl of our cities (Lynch 1960). He goes on to say:
“A vivid and integrated physical setting, capable of producing a sharp image, plays a social roll as well. It can furnish the raw material for the symbols and collective memories of group communication. A striking landscape is the skeleton upon which many primitive races erect their socially important myths. “
“The same daily action could take on new meaning if carried out in a more vivid setting. Potentially, the city is in itself the powerful symbol of a complex society – if visually set forth, it can also have strong expressive meaning.” “It must be granted that there is some value in mystification, labyrinth, or surprise in the environment (Lynch 1960).”
This last statement by Lynch’s suggests there is a value in temporal art and spontaneous happenings as a means for improving User experiences in a space. For instance, consider the rising trend of flash mobs. It has become increasingly popular for musicians and dancers to invade a space unannounced and perform as if their chance meeting was a mere coincidence. The element of art as surprise is what captivates audiences and energizes a space.
Visual Culture
Image of a City
69
One of the most common flash mobs around the world today is the pillow fight
Image of a City
Rittenhouse is to this day Philadelphia’s most successful urban space, due in no small part to an organization that maintains its upkeep as well as schedules year round programming.
The Urban Playground Project
Visual Culture
Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs is perhaps one of the most influential authors in the history of town planning. Her book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities is boasted by William Whyte to be one of the most remarkable books ever written about a city. This primary literature is read in numerous disciplines from urban planning to psychology. Her monumental work provides an essential framework for assessing the ‘vitality’ of all cities (Jacobs, 1961). She writes about what makes a city street safe or unsafe, what constitutes a neighborhood, and what function it serves within the larger organism of the city. Jacobs also writes about neighborhood rejuvenation – what
Image of a City
makes it possible or impossible; why downtowns shift their centers and what, if anything, is a city neighborhood. In short, Jacobs writes about how cities work in real life, because this is the only way to learn what principles of planning and what practices in rebuilding can promote social and economic vitality in cities as well as what practices and principles will deaden these attributes (Jacobs, 4).
“The sight of people attracts still other people, is something that city planners and city architectural designers seem to find incomprehensible.They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true. People’s love for watching activity and other people is constantly evident in cities everywhere (Jacobs 37).”
Jacobs suggests that spaces need mixed primary uses, generate diversity and should be activated at different times of the day. Supporting William Whyte’s theory Jacob states that,
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Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
Whyte, Jacobs and Lynch all point to the activation of people as means to improving public space. This truth implies a critical need to attract Users into downtown Philadelphia, but how? What are the desired elements that draw Users into a space besides each other? One solution, according to these authors and countless others, is the presence of public art. However, if public art alone improved public spaces, then downtown Philadelphia would be an urban oasis strewn with people but this is not the case. So what gives?
Public Art in Philadelphia
ART: IC L B U P IA H P L E D A PHIL M THE FULL SPECTRU
Philadelphia, above all, should understand the value and application of public art as a means of improving space and communities. It is the site of America’s first public art installation and contains more outdoor sculpture than any other city in the nation (The Fairmount Park Art Association, 2010). This is evident if you travel through Fairmount Park. The landscape is dotted with historical sculptures paying tribute to our nation’s past achievements. Laurel Hill cemetery was the first public sculpture garden in the United States and the Fairmount Park Art Association is the nation’s first private, nonprofit organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. Penny Bach, the Associations Executive Director and author of Public Art in Philadelphia, defines public art as:
“A manifestation of how we see the world-the artist’s reflection of our social, cultural, and physical environment combined with our sense of time and place.What distinguishes public art is the unique association of its structure, location, and meaning. Public art can express civic values, enhance the environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in a public site, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expressionfrom the once celebrated but now unrecognized general on a horse to the abstract sculpture that may baffle the passerby at first glance” (Bach, Public Art in Philadelphia, 1992).
Image of a City Efforts made by the OACCE to better understand Philadelphia’s current arts and culture scene – as compared to a national benchmark – suggests that city officials have considered public art as a means for urban renewal and understand how important it is. Reports on the success of Philadelphia’s non-profit and private art sectors imply that the people themselves are more than prepared to engage urban blight, with or without the support of the city. Take a look at Philadelphia’s internationally recognized Mural Arts Program and the unique efforts that have earned international praise and dubbed Philadelphia, “The City of Murals.”
A city’s public art and culture is its face to the world, (Penn Praxis, 2009) and the citizens of Philadelphia are no less ambitious in the world of art today as they were hundreds of years ago. This past year proved the biggest increase in the city’s non-profits and independent start-ups (Arts & Culture Study). According to a study conducted by Penn Praxis for the city’s Office of Art and Culture in the Creative Economy (OACCE), the most interesting work being done in the public art realm of Philadelphia is coming from private and non-profit organizations, not the public sector (Penn Praxis, 2009 p.17). This evidence suggests that Philadelphia has some of the most motivated, civic, culturally enriched people on the planet; but downtown Center City’s urban fabric does not expose this to visitors.
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Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
MURAL ARTS PROGRAM
Image of a City
A HISTORY OF URBAN REVITALIZATION
The Mural Arts Program began in 1984 as a component of the Philadelphia AntiGraffiti Network, an effort spearheaded by then Mayor Wilson Goode to eradicate the graffiti crisis plaguing the city. The Anti-Graffiti Network hired muralist Jane Golden to reach out to graffiti writers and to redirect their energies from destructive graffiti writing to constructive mural painting (The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program).
Since it began, the Mural Arts Program has produced over 3,000 murals, which have become a cherished part of the civic landscape and a great source of inspiration to the millions of residents and visitors who encounter them each year. As stunning as the murals are themselves, they are, most importantly, the visual products of a powerful and collaborative grassroots process in communities (The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program).
Currently the program runs on an annual budget of over five million dollars, employs more than 300 muralists and over 5000 people attend mural tours annually (Fleming 107-108). Mural making in Philadelphia has sometimes proved to be a healing and cathartic experience for the communities involved in the design process, and has restored a semblance of pride and ownership to its citizens in crumbling neighborhoods (Fleming 108).
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Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
According to MuralFarm – the MuralArts database of murals in the city, the entire sector we have deemed ‘the playground’ is almost completely devoid of muralism. The only areas with even less murals present are the Grey’s Ferry and Society Hill sections of the city – arguably Philadelphia’s two least community-centric areas.
Mural Arts Program
Image of a City
77
Source http://muralfarm.org
Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
MURAL FATIGUE Although a great success at improving communities, public spaces, and the image of Philadelphia, The Mural Arts Program still uses limited media, technology, contexts, and site options. The progressive minds behind the Mural Arts Program are aware of this and are currently attempting to do something about it. In February of this year we stumbled upon an open call competition that stated: The Mural Arts Program seeks to: strengthen the ties between creative minds and the Philadelphia community at large through innovative ideas that challenge and advance the concept of mural-making in the 21st century.
In this context, we seek mural-based projects that: Engage new audiences, form new alliances and communities, narrate different histories and experiences, forge unprecedented forms and practice visionary examples of participation by employing traditional media and sites, as well as new media and undiscovered spaces. Mural Arts is interested in: expanding on ideas of mural-making by questioning: form, scale, duration, location, participation, documentation, experience, impact, the role of the artist, community, and the use of technology.
Mural Arts Program
In an attempt to answer this complex request, a proposal was submitted and made it to the final elimination, but did not win the bid. The plan proposed that mural-making in the 21st century should not only exist as painting in 2D, but rather in 3D using various forms of art such as: music, dance and theatre, as well as investing in new technologies and mediums. The general public could be part of the community building and public art making process as well. Nearly Mural Arts Program had a public 2 months hadThepassed from the initial
Open Call for Entries on their web site asking for an answer to the question, “What is the future of Muralism in the 21st century?”
presentation, when it was discovered that Mural Arts had started a subsidiary dedicated to the discovery of new mediums, technology and methods to public art – essentially following the protocols of the project proposed.
presentation materials 2 days in advance. These are to become property of Mural Arts at which point they may or may not ever use your submission.
20 Minutes of Fame
rty of prorpael arts mu
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opeln ca l
the urban landscape. User experiences, social interactions, temporary installations and spontaneous happenings in public art and culture contribute to the positive memories that are important to one’s perception of public space quality and sense of community.
The bottom line here is that a public call for help from an organization as influential as The Mural Arts Program is a direct sign of their understanding that one’s ‘image of Philadelphia’ is not solely associated withare the permanent Choosen artists asked to submit visuals of
2 Days Ahead
30 Days
Image of a City
How We Spent our 20 Minutes of Fame
I choose thee, maybe
The Rules
Artists Presentation
Q&A
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12 months later...
4 week wait
Image of a City
The Urban Playground Project
PERMANENT TEMPORARY VERSUS
Typically, public art in Philadelphia has presented itself in the form of murals and outdoor sculpture. In the case of Philadelphia’s downtown, where murals are extremely limited, we see sculptures as reflections of past eras of industrialization and post modernism:
‘Clothespin’ by Claes Oldenburg, (1976) located in Centre Square Plaza is erected with Corten and stainless steel. The oversized familiar object viewed out of context earns shocking, yet humorous reaction out of most that view it (Bach, Public Art in Philadelphia, 1992).
‘Phoenix Rising’ by Emlen Etting, (1982) located on the west side of City Hall in Dilworth Plaza, was erected as a memorial to Richardson Dilworth.
Permanent vs. Temporary
‘Love’ by Robert Indiana (1976) rests in John F. Kennedy Plaza and is made with painted aluminum on stainless steel. This sculpture has become iconic of Philadelphia. Its image has been replicated on countless objects such as jewelry, posters, plates and postage stamps (Bach, Public Art in Philadelphia, 1992).
‘Your Move’ by Daniel Martinez, Renee Petropoulis, and Roger White, (1996) located on the west side of Broad St. between Arch and JFK in the Municipal Services Building plaza. The sculptures are a series of oversized game pieces – Chess, Monopoly, Dominoes, etc. scattered around the plaza.
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‘Leviathan’ by Seymour Lipton (1963) is installed in Penn Center Plaza and cast with Monel metal. The sculpture uses a stylized whale form to explore the primal forces of nature (Bach, Public Art in Philadelphia, 1992).
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The rich history and local expertise of public art in Philadelphia, combined with the ill-fated spaces in center city, raises questions about the application of public art in the civic downtown. Why has the city not adopted and supported new mediums and contexts of public art in Center City? Why is public art innovation the responsibility of citizens and non for-profits, but not city officials?
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Street artists around the world often challenge their environments in unique ways. Not to put out any political message or satire, but to instead ask the viewrs just to stop and view the world a little differently.
Over the years the context of public art around the world has transformed from permanent murals and outdoor sculpture to include any temporary works, in any media, visible to the general public. This includes dance and music performances, processions, street art and theatre, lighting effects, poetry readings, flash mobs, interactive projections, etc. Citizens of Philadelphia understand, and have adopted the point of view Patricia Phillips endorses in her paper, Temporality and Public Art. In it she states, “One way that artists and agencies can continue to generate public art and remain analytical about its purpose, its composition, and how it is to be distinguished (or not) from other creative enterprises is to support more shortlived experiments in which variables can be changed and results intelligently and sensitively examined. Public art requires a more passionate commitment to the temporary-to the information culled from the short-lived project (Phillips, 1989). “
Temporal public art closely relates to the public itself because it’s: ever changing, spontaneous, rapid and unpredictable. “A temporal public art may not offer broad proclamations; it may stir controversy and rage; it may cause confusion; it may occur in nontraditional, marginal, and private places. In such an art the conceptual takes precedence over the more obvious circumstantial (Phillips, 1989).” Public art that is temporary affords things that permanent art could never. Because the work is part of the urban fabric for short periods of time, there is freedom to try new ideas, new forms, and new methods of production (Phillips, 1989). It challenges public art and artists, explores the relationship between current events and traditional values, and enables new means for self and community evaluation.
Phillips also declares that,
“Public art does not have to last forever; it does not have to cast its message to some unmistakable but platitudinous theme that absolutely everyone will get; it does not have to make a common ground. As the texture and context of public life changes over the years, public art must reach for new articulations and new expectations (Phillips, 1989).”
Permanent vs. Temporary
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Philadelphia citizens are some of the most engaging temporary artists of our time. Self started public art events and traditions are common, supported, and practiced by the people. There is a desperate passion in Philadelphians to experience arts, culture and each other. Social interactions in public spaces come alive during events organized, from the bottom up, to improve the community. Philadelphia is home to some of the largest, most lucrative temporal public art events in the nation:
Huge, completely grassroots and enveloped with tradition, one of the most unique, respected shocking spectacles an American City has ever come to know, The Mummers’ Parade has been an annual occurrence in Philadelphia for over 100 years. On New Year’s Day, groups from South Philadelphia “strut” their stuff down Broad Street in elaborate costumes complete with song and dance routines.
Permanent vs. Temporary
‘Light Drift,’ a temporary interactive public artwork in light produced by artist Meejin Yoon and the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
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DesignPhiladelphia emerged in 2005 to make the case for the way in which design is central to every city’s economic, social and cultural growth. Through its events and programming, it celebrates the city’s contemporary significance as a center for creative advancement.
85 ‘Welcome House,’ is a 10' x 10’ transparent cube that served as an artist residency by day, and an art installation by night. Created by Marianne Bernstein, ten artists from around Philadelphia created new work inside the cube, based on their interactions with the public
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KENTON
SINGKINET
Philadelphia is rich in culture from the grassroots street festivals that celebrate culture of various neighborhoods,
ITALI A N MARKET FESTIVAL
SCULPTURIC E
DERBY
OUT PARADE
Permanent vs. Temporary
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to the organizations or people dedicated to implementing art into public spaces.
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STREET ART ON THE RISE Popular street artists today – Shepard Fairy, Swoon, Banksy, etc. have generated some of the most money, received some of the highest honors, and earned some of the most respected recognition in the high art world currently today. They have sold millions of books, been internationally recognized at prestigious museums like the Moma and Guggenheim. Released earlier this year Banksy’s documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, captured the process of making and installing street art. The film earned him an Oscar nomination Carlo McCormick in collaboration with Wooster Collective’s, Marc and Sara Schiller created the world’s trendiest coffee table book on urban art – Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art. This book is an intuition, an empirical reading of the discrete ways in which motives and methodologies from different manners in cultural endeavor can inform one another (McCormick 16). Authors Marc and Sara Schiller state in the preface,
“It is the interplay between the urban environment and the artists who see the city as on giant canvas that captivates the imagination. Never before have we seen public art reach such a scale as we now see with the works of Blu, of become so pervasive as we see with Shepard Fairey’s, or so copied as that of Banksy, or so delicate as Swoon. Street artists bemoan the rapid disappearance of public space (Marc and Sara Shiller 10).” The Shillers describe street art in Trespass as, “a vibrant subculture that infiltrates and eradicates the monotony of daily life.Your commute to work, or that short trip to the store, now become an adventure as you search for creativity in unexpected places (Marc & Sara Shiller 10).” They go on to say, “Many people are too quick to view street art through the lens of vandalism. They mistakenly believe that the artists are taking beautiful buildings and
defacing them. And yet, most street artists work in neglected neighborhoods and place their work on ‘forgotten’ buildings.They look for the rundown building with the paint chipping off, with weeds growing out of the sidewalk. Their motivation is to beautify these buildings and to create something truly special.They believe that the art adds something to the city, creating energy that enhances eroding buildings.” Author Carlo McCormick writes in Trespass about street artists relationship with boundaries and permission. He shows empathy towards street artists by explaining the nature of creativity – if granted – gives artists tacit permission to constantly stretch, challenge, and if need be, defy this unending accumulation of boundaries (McCormock 15). He is quoted in this book for saying, “Any gesture that has not been granted permission and yet commands public address needs to be understood primarily as a kind of discourse.”
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Shepard Fairey’s “Andre the Giant” challenged the idea of street art as pop culture, as well as definitive art.
In defending the act of producing street art McCormick explains communication to be as fundamental to human nature as mark-making, and the primal embodiment of both impulses registered in our earliest cave paintings. McCormick says,
Because restrictions on free expressions and movement will inherently be viewed by a segment of the population as an invitation, the act of trespass can be understood not simply as a challenge to the rues but also as a challenge to the authority upon which they are founded (McCormick 16).” “It is vital to understand how the uncommissioned interventions a reflex against the hegemony of public spaces by the interests of the few over the psychological well-being of the many.
Street Art on the Rise
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STREET ART SCREWS WITH NORMATIVE URBAN EXPERIENCE TO ALLOW FOR A BROADER QUESTIONING OF THE WAY THINGS ARE.
CARLOS MC
CORMICK
Clockwise from the top: ‘Vandalized Phone Box’ by Banksy; ‘Make Art Not War’ by Shepard Fairey; ‘Garden Basketball’ by SpY; ‘Laser Graphitti’ by Graphitti Research Lab; ‘Untitled’ by Swoon; ‘Kissing Police’ by Banksy
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CASE STUDY
MILLENNIUM PARK, CHICAGO
CLOUD GATE is a three-story steel sculpture that has been dubbed “The Bean” by Chicagoans
Millennium Park is considered to be Chicago’s most important development in over a century. It cost well over $450 million, nearly triple the original budget, and was completed 4 years overdue, thanks in no small part to poor planning, and many design changes. The finished park, however, is praised as one of the quintessential destinations for the urban resident. Many critics have praised the completed park, and it has won numerous awards for its architectural prowess. Millennium Park is a portion of the larger Grant Park, known as the “front lawn” of downtown Chicago, and has four major artistic highlights: the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and the Lurie Garden (CDCA, 2010). Millennium Park is successful as a public art venue in part due to the grand scale of each piece and the open spaces for display. A showcase for postmodern architecture, it also features
the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, the BP Pedestrian Bridge, the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Wrigley Square, the McDonald’s Cycle Center, the Exelon Pavilions, the AT&T Plaza, the Boeing Galleries, the Chase Promenade, and the Nichols Bridgeway (CDCA, 2010). Millennium Park is considered one of the largest green roofs in the world, having been constructed on top of a railroad yard and large parking garages (Spielman, 2008). The park, which is known for being User friendly, has a very rigorous cleaning schedule with many areas being swept, wiped down or cleaned multiple times a day(Spielman, 2008). Although the park was unveiled in July 2004, some features opened earlier, and upgrades continued for some time afterward(Hall, 2005). Along with the cultural features above ground (described below) the park has its own 2218-space parking garage.
Case Study: Millenium Park
THE CROWN FOUNTAIN is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture designed by Catalan conceptual artist Jaume Plensa. The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed between a pair of transparent glass brick towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall, and use light-emitting diodes behind the bricks to display digital videos on their inward faces. Residents and critics have praised the fountain for its artistic and entertainment features.It highlights Plensa’s themes of dualism, light, and water, extending the use of video technology from his prior works. The fountain promotes physical interaction between the public and the water in an artistic setting.
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The centerpiece of Millennium Park is the JAY PRITZKER PAVILION,a bandshell designed by Frank Gehry.
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CASE STUDY
YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE, TORONTO
The square sees heavy User traffic daily thanks to farmer markets during the day, and cafés on the corners
One of the busiest intersections in Toronto, the square was constructed during a revitalization project. The square was created from the demolition of a block of commercial buildings and opened as a public square in November 2002. Yonge-Dundas Square is a unique focal point of the downtown Toronto community. The Square is designated for use as a public open space and as an event venue that can accommodate events of various sizes.You’ll discover a wide range of activities on the Square: community celebrations, theatrical events, concerts, receptions, promotions – events that appeal to residents and tourists alike and provide a showcase for local business.
Yonge-Dundas Square is controversial in some circles. Criticism ranges from suggestions that the city has missed an opportunity for more green space (Lourneo, 2006) within the downtown core (or that they have missed an opportunity for what some critics consider more interesting architectural elements) to questions of what the true intent behind the ostensibly public square is. The Toronto Public Space Committee and organizers of Toronto iterations of the Reclaim The Streets phenomenon often point to the square as an example of what they consider a negative trend in urban planning.
Case Study: Yonge-Dundas Square
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The Plaza can transform to host a variety of uses. The site has an events cooridinator that keeps the monthly events in order, and allows for public recommendations
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Street performers are a regular occurance in the Square
During the summer months the plaza has a steady stream of concerts
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CASE STUDY
URBAN PLAY, AMSTERDAM
BOOMBENCH by NL Architects NL Architects: Pieter Bannenberg, Walter van Dijk, Kamiel Klaasse
Most of the successful solutions were conducted abroad, where public spaces are better utilized and are more appreciated. In Amsterdam, curator Scott Burnham in partnership with 18 of the world’s most talented urban interventionists, composed the ‘Urban Play’ Exhibit. The Urban Play exhibition provided a global overview of urban design interventions done outside of the formal channels of institutions, commissions and urban planning in cities around the world. Some refer to it as guerrilla design or “3D Graffiti”, but this surge of urban creativity – from billboards that are visually remixed, to streetscapes which are morphed into theatrical areas in the middle of the night– is where creative expression in the city becomes physical, literally transforming cities around the world (Burnham 2010).
The ‘Urban Play’ Project was a collaborative effort that engaged a community in spontaneous ways. It explored how this latest wave of interaction with the urban landscape is challenging the rules of engagement between citizens and sanctioned urban creative expression – moreover, how it is changing the language of creativity in the city (Burnham 2010). Curator Scott Brunham purposed and executed an event that hosted temporary solutions to numerous public space problems identified by William Whyte. Artists interventions are created to encourage interaction and physical engagement by the public. Urban Play posed the question that we hear so much about the ‘creative city’, but when do we actually get to see it in action (Burnham 2010).
His vision addresses the raising trend of street art and DIY open source urban design. There is a new respect for street artists – their work is not considered vandalism. The fact is, there is a deep sophisticated movement driven by artists and designers who want to expand their relationship between creativity and the city (Burnham 2010).
Case Study: Urban Play
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OBSESSION MAKES MY LIFE WORSE AND MY WORK BETTER by Stefan Sagmeister. 350,000 euro cent coins were carefully placed over 8 days, and swiftly swept up by police to “preserve the artwork”
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MOVING FOREST by Gen Yamamoto
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Case Study: Urban Play
SWING LANTERN by Designo Patagoni
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FISH IN THE SKY by Nothing Design Group
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SCULPT ME POINT by Marti Guixe
IDENTIFY
EXECUTE
VISUALIZE
LITERATURE RESEARCH SYNTHESIS If the city environment outwardly effects its Users, and the image of that city does not fare well, the Users are conversely unegaged from the outset, or in worse cases, depressed.
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Number of Arts & Culture Organizations in Eight Downtowns 2009 1500
1,308
Numbe & Cultu
1200
900
Museums, Visual Arts, Historic, Scientific 600
432
414
6,134,241 384
284
275
300
Performing Arts
266
2,207,196
146
?
0 Midtown Manhattan NYC
Lower Manhattan NYC
Wahington D.C.
Center City Philadelphia PA
Boston MA
San Francisco CA
Chicago IL
Seattle WA
SO IS CENTER CITY AT FAULT FOR NOT BEING CREATIVE Non-Profit Arts Organizations in Center City
Non-Profit Arts Organizations
500
415 400
314 300
200
100
0 2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Source: National Center for Charitable Statistics databases, compiled by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
2009
Community Arts, Education
1,216,668
5 15
09 09
Literature Research Synthesis
Number Number of of Visits Visits to to Non-Profits Non-Profits & Culture Institutions & Culture Institutions 2009 2009
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Number Number of of Performances, Performances, Exhibitions Exhibitions & Classes in Center City by & Classes in Center City by Type Type 2009 2009 Public PublicPerformances Performances(home) (home)
14,367 14,367
Public PublicClasses, Classes,Workshops Workshops
4,622 4,622
Museums, Museums,Visual VisualArts, Arts, Historic, Historic,Scientific Scientific
6,134,241 6,134,241 Performing PerformingArts Arts
2,207,196 2,207,196
Community CommunityArts, Arts, Education Education
1,216,668 1,216,668
Films Films
1,063 1,063
Public PublicPerformances Performances(away) (away)
984 984
Lectures Lectures
933 933
Professional ProfessionalClasses, Classes,Workshops Workshops
694 694
Tours Tours
464 464 416 416 392 392
Permanent PermanentExhibitions Exhibitions Temporary TemporaryExhibitions Exhibitions
126 CENTER CITY ARTS ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVED $9,558,105 IN 2009, HOWEVER, IF THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATES IN AN EVENT, BUT IT DOESN’T COST ANYTHING OR NOTHING IS PURCHASED, THEN THE ACTION GOES UNDOCUMENTED. Source: National Center for Charitable Statistics databases, compiled by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
A huge advocate of this search for new, creative urban developments is Gary Steuer, the Chief Cultural Officer to the City and director of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts and Culture in the Creative Economy (OACCE), located in city hall. The OACCE is a predominate organization within the city dedicated to providing opportunities for artists, designers and developers to enrich the city’s arts and cultural experience and perception. The Office of Arts and Culture in the Creative Economy was redeveloped by Mayor Nutter two years ago with the intent to improve, maintain, and increase public art in Philadelphia. The OACCE commissions a progress report called a CVI, or Creative Vitality Index, to better understand Philadelphia’s position in arts and culture compared to other major U.S. cities. This report uses readily available, inexpensive data on employment and community participation to measure Philadelphia’s
arts-related creative sector from 2006 to 2008 and compares our performance to the national benchmarks (WESTAF -Western States Arts Federation, 2009). Upon reading between the lines of the CVI report, there was a noticeable a flaw in the accuracy of the data generated. Because the CVI’s numbers are collected from economic inputs and not sheer community participation, it does not accurately reflect community involvement. If the public participates in an event, but it doesn’t cost anything or nothing is purchased, then the action goes undocumented. Keeping that in mind, it would be reasonable to say that Philadelphia citizens are more enriched with public art and culture than what is stated in the CVI report. According to the report, Philadelphia’s CVI growth ranks among the top 5 in the nation and the nonprofit arts organization revenue is 5 times the national benchmark. Overall, Philadelphia’s CVI score is 70% stronger
than the national benchmark, and leads the state and region in creative activity (WESTAF -Western States Arts Federation, 2009). These statistics are evidence that the independent artistic vigor of Philadelphia residents is the driving force behind the art and cultural happenings rather than city-supported and organized groups and events. Steuer himself has stated, “Even though Philadelphia consistently employed over 17,000 people in creative occupations, we are 15 percent below the national average (WESTAF -Western States Arts Federation, 2010).” A city’s public art and culture is its face to the world. (PennPraxis, 2009). In speaking to center city, it could use a lift. 103
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NO PLAY Both Lynch and Jacobs call attention to the same themes discovered through field research findings on urban blight – using human centered design methods: observing, interviewing and mapping, people in downtown Philadelphia, paralleled with the negative User behaviors described in literary research. People predominantly walked briskly with their heads down – usually looking at a palm-sized screen, seeming to have a protective shield around their bodies, disconnecting them from the natural world. Users rarely paused long enough to have memorable moments, frame mental images of their environment, have a face-to-face conversations or spontaneous experiences.
Some white-collar workers couldn’t understand why anyone was interested in improving their environment. They were even offended someone would perhaps distract them from their mundane schedule to ask them such a question. A teacher at Temple, Lyn Washington’s office over looks an empty downtown plaza; his class specializes in documenting Philadelphia neighborhoods. Here sits a man very connected with the real, natural world, but can’t see the space outside his window as anything more than transitional transportation thoroughfare.
Literature Research Synthesis
New experiences are the spark plug of memories. They fuel innovation and enhance creativity. Qualities considered valuable to work. So how are people working these days? What are the successful new trends? How can the spaces around buildings enrich the quality of work being produced inside the buildings? How do we improve the wellbeing of individuals while simultaneously creating a sense of community where it previously did not exist?
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MAKING A CASE FOR PLAY We are designed to find fulfillment and creative growth through play.
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The opposite of play is not work, it’s boredom,
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or in severe cases, depression.
DR. STUART BROWN
Play: How
It Shapes
Our Brain
, 2009.
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PLAY AT WORK INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY
Many questions arose about the nature of play and its psychological effects. In the book, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, Dr. Stewart Brown specifically states that, “In a broad sense, play is what lifts people out of the mundane (Brown and Vaughan 6, 2009).” Ultimately, Brown’s book is about understanding the role of play and using it to find and express our own core truths. “It is about learning to harness a force that has been built into us through millions of years of evolution, a force that allows us to both discover our most essential selves and enlarge our world. We are designed to find fulfillment and creative growth through play (Brown and Vaughan 13, 2009).”
“Once convinced that play and innovation were inseparable, he established a ‘play week’ on an island off the China coast and a similar ‘camp’ on the Czech Republic.The Chinese engineers showed a bump in morale and productivity, and thereafter games and free time for imaginative invention were integrated into the workweek.The engineers not only worked better together, but they also came up with more effective ways to work and more original solutions for design problems.The interesting thing is that the Czech engineers didn’t really take to the extracurricular activities.They already had recreation activities that they enjoyed, and any group activities outside of work only took away from those (Brown and Vaughan 200, 2009).”
If this was entirely true, then why do people play less as they get older? Brown cites his examples of real-life scenarios based off of research he conducted as opposed to making assumptions. The most relevant example, as it pertains to using play to help workers, is that of the worldwide engineering executive. In this story Brown describes a previous client who was troubled to figure out why a lab in China is not as successful as the company’s other two labs in the United States and Czech Republic.
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GLOBAL WORK CULTURE
Research reveals middle-aged workers who put in 55 hours or more on the job had poorer mental skills, short-term memory and verbal recall than their colleagues who worked 40 hours or less. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that two-thirds of visits to the family doctor are prompted by stress-related symptoms. Compared to 25 years ago, we work more hours a day, and bring home more work with us In cities around the world, work ethics are completely different than those of Americans. While America rocks the 40 hour work week, countries like France prefer a leisurely 35. Other countries have seen a steady decline in work week hours since 2001. Patterns are developing in the companies considered to have some of the most “creative” spaces to work in, also being the most “innovative.” Time is coming to invoke change in the 9-5.
4
A
L A R U T CUL
SHIFT
Global Work Culture
T
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Google’s Zurich Office, 2008
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IDEO Finger Blasters
LEGO Corporate Office, UK
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SOME INTERESTING,
UNCONVENTIONAL
PLAYGROUND
H DESIGNS FROM WORT G N I T O AROUND THE WORLD N
Cases of Play
Y A L P W O SHAD
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2004
Artist: Richter Spielgeräte
Shadow Play is an interactive and educational game where shapes and colors when reflected on the ground by sunlight, can be directed and superimposed by the User. It consists of a fixed pole in the ground and a revolving 360Âş device which supports the opaque or translucent color panels that create the different shadows.
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By using multiple devices, this playground system promotes teamwork and learning through collaboration.
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N E T R A G KINDER KEKEC 2010
Architect: Arhitektura Jure Kotnik Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Kindergarten Kekec is an extension of a typical Slovene prefab kindergarten from the 1980s. Situated in one of Ljubljana’s residential areas, Kekec answers the growing demand for kindergartens. This comes as a result of Ljubljana having witnessed considerable population growth as well as legislative changes and a planned increase in building density inside the highway ring surrounding the city.
The construction is made from prefabricated wood and was built in three days only. The main design concept derives from the existing kindergarten’s lack of play equipment. The new façade solves this weakness by offering a play element along all three exterior walls. The slats are the color of natural wood on one side but painted into nine different bright colors on the other side.
Cases of Play
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1997
CITY MUSEUM Artist: Bob Cassilly Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.
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SPACE,TIME, PLACE OCCASION
BENEFITS OF PLAY ON URBAN SPACES
Moving forward it is important to understand the history of playground design – which Philadelphia plays a significant role in – and new trends. Author Susan G. Solomon studied the uses of numerous playground case studies from all over the United States as a means for comparing and contrasting their failures and successes. She received her Ph. D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is trained as an art historian with a concentration in twentieth-century architecture. She has extensive experience as a curator, writer, and speaker. Currently, Solomon heads her own research firm, Curatorial Resources & Research in Princeton, New Jersey. “Huizinga’s observations about play being a free, voluntary, unpredictable, and repeatable activity, carried out within a demarcated area, and generating a nucleus of Users who can thrive outside of the play area (Solomon
18).” Amsterdam is currently, and throughout history, the most progressive city in the world for implementing play into public spaces as a means for urban revitalization. Starting in the 1940’s, after war and devastation left the city in shambles, Europeans began to incorporate the ideas of psychologists who were addressing the importance of play for children. Dutch architect and father of playground design, Aldo Van Eyck, brilliantly integrated play spaces into the urban fabric to improve daily life in Amsterdam. By doing so he provided compositions of potent artistic abstraction, created magnets for community activity and produced meaningful spaces that activated one’s collective memory (Solomon 7,14, 20).
Benefit of Play
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Aldo van Eyke revitalized bombed-out spaces and gave new life to a dying city. This pair of photos show the same space, on the left is before, and on the right is after.
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Van Eyck designed over 700 play spaces for the Amsterdam Public Works Department by the time of his death in 1999. He believed that a vast net of playgrounds could be a legitimate form of art that sprang from the specifics of a site and its Users. He gave his innovations a respectability that did not pander to children and permitted the playground to become an enduring aspect of the urban life.Van Eyck also verbalized how to put art in the service of urban enhancement and exalted play and play spaces by believing they were a legitimate art form (Solomon 15 & 22). Susan Solomon states in her book, American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space that, “Van Eyck was a humanist whose personal philosophy was rooted in conceptions of community. His goal was to create connections among people (Solomon 14).� These connections are most certainly not limited to children. If designed well, a play space should appeal to people of all ages, including the elderly. They have a special place in our urban fabric, acting as spaces for public gathering, and community expression.
before
Benefits of Play
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Solomon goes on to say that, “Playground sites can be formidable symbols of rejuvenating cities and have materialized in order to resolve singular problems: how to fill a spatial void; how to involve under served communities, and how to give meaning to spaces by invoking collective memory (Solomon 159)”. Her research suggests that although playgrounds may not change the environment on a macro scale, they have the potential to change the world in small meaningful ways. A well-designed playground offers a child a chance –and a community –to explore, to imagine, and to take risks.
“
VAN EYCK SEIZED ON THESE OTHERWISE INCONSEQUENTIAL SPACES AND TRANSFORMED THEM INTO ‘PLACE,” AN AREA WITH LEGIBLE PRESENCES THAT WOULD HAVE ENDURING MAGNETISM.
SCHOLAR
”
LEFAIVRE
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after
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PLAY MATES
PLAY BENEFITS ON SOCIAL INTERACTIONS & WELL-BEING When adults play together, they are engaging in exactly the same patterns of behavior that positively shape the brain in children. These same playful behaviors that predict emotional health in children also lead to positive change in adults. Studies show that an emotionally insecure individual can replace negative beliefs and behaviors with positive assumptions and actions by living with a secure partner. Close, positive, and emotionally fulfilling relationships heal and create emotional resiliency. Play provides a safe and joyous context for the development of such relationships.
Play fosters creativity, flexibility, and learning
Play helps us develop and improve our social skills
Play is a doorway to learning. Play stimulates our imaginations, helping us adapt and solve problems. Play arouses curiosity, which leads to discovery and creativity. The components of play curiosity, discovery, novelty, risk-taking, trial and error, pretense, games, social etiquette and other increasingly complex adaptive activities - are the same as the components of learning.
Social skills are learned in the give and take of play.Verbal communication and body language, safety and danger, freedom and boundaries, cooperation and teamwork: all are discovered and practiced repeatedly during infant and childhood play. We continue to refine these skills in adulthood through play and playful communication.
Play is an antidote to loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and depression When we play vigorously, we trigger a mix of endorphins that lift our spirits and distractions that distance us from pain, fear and other burdens. And when we play with other people, with friends and strangers, we are reminded that we are not alone in this world. We can connect to others in delightful and meaningful ways that banish loneliness. Play teaches us perseverance The rewards of learning or mastering a new game teach us that perseverance is worthwhile. Perseverance is a trait necessary to healthy adulthood, and it is learned largely through play. Perseverance and violence are rarely found together.
Play teaches us how to cooperate with others Play is a powerful catalyst for positive socialization. Through play, children learn how to “play nicely� with others - to work together, follow mutually agreed upon rules, and socialize in groups. Play makes us happy Beyond all these excellent reasons for playing, there is simply the sheer joy of it. Play is a state of being that is happy and joyous. Jumping into and out of the world of play on a daily basis can preserve and nourish our own hearts, and the hearts of our communities.
Benefits of Play
M a k i n g A C a s e f o r P l ay
Dr. Patch Adams has devoted his life to the study of what makes people happy; he has proven the healing power of play. He believes that laughter, joy and creativity are an integral part of the healing process and therefore true health care must incorporate such life. -Š National Speakers Bureau
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Play is often described as a time when we feel most alive, yet we often take it for granted and may completely forget about it. But play isn’t a luxury –it’s a necessity. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Play teaches us how to manage and transform our “negative” emotions and experiences. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress, and connects us to others and the world around us. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable. Despite the power of play, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us stop playing. We exchange play for work and responsibilities. When we do have some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than to engage in creative, brain-stimulating play. By giving ourselves permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, we can continue to reap its benefits throughout life.
Benefits of Play
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Play Types
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STANDARD DOCTOR. RECOMMENDED TYPES OF PLAY
Brown describes the various ways to organize play elements, behaviors and types. The stages of play begin at birth with attunement. When we are infants we start to engage with body and movement play. This is a very critical type of play. According to Brown, “Movement play lights up the brain and fosters learning, innovation, flexibility, adaptability, and resilience. These central aspects of human mature require movement to be fully realized (p.84 Brown and Vaughan 2009). Brown retells Sir Ken Robinson, the educational visionary, study on a girl that was having a hard time in school. She was diagnosed with ADHD and given drugs, but nothing was wrong with her. Actually, she was quite fantastic. Because her brain learned best through movement, she was an exceptional dancer. She went on to have a very successful career after being told by teachers and doctors she was learning disabled.
It’s these little nuances in our brains that make us all unique. How we problem-solve can be directly related to the various types of play that Brown outlined. Beside the aforementioned Attunement, and Movement, is Object, Imaginative, Social, and finally Storytelling. Brown goes on to make bold, but valid points about play that he has discovered through his life dedicated research to the topic. These are some examples: A) Play has always been a key to adaption and survival for 3 main reasons: social, economic, and personal. Play sets the stage for cooperative socialization. It nourishes the roots of trust, empathy, caring, and sharing.When we see another human in distress, that distress becomes ours. Games, sports, and free play between kids set the foundation for our understanding of fairness and justice (p.197 Brown and Vaughan 2009). B) Play lowers the level of violence in
society and increases communication. For example, when there are big social or economic gaps between people, they can often find common ground talking about local sports teams (p.198 Brown and Vaughan 2009). C) For adults, too, taking part in play is a way to put us in sync with those around us. It is a way to tap into common emotions and thoughts and share them with others (p.63 Brown and Vaughan 2009). D) Play shows us our common humanity. It is a state of mind, rather than an activity. It is an absorbing, apparently purposeless activity that provides enjoyment and a suspension of selfconsciousness and sense of time. It is 125 also self-motivating and makes you want to do it again (p.60 Brown and Vaughan 2009).
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T AKE #
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AND CALL ME IN
3 2 ATTUNEMENT MOVEMENT OBJEC 1
When an infant makes eye contact with her mother, each experiences a spontaneous surge of emotion (joy). The baby responds with a radiant smile, the mother with her own smile and rhythmic vocalizations (baby talk). This is the grounding base of the stateof-play. It is known, through EEG and other imaging technologies, that the right cerebral cortex, which organizes emotional control is “attuned” in both infant and mother.
Measure levels of Momma’s Boy Syndrome
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The play-driven movement of leaping upward is a lesson about gravity as well as one’s body. And it lights up the brain and fosters learning. Innovation, flexibility, adaptability, resilience, have their roots in movement. People seek the upward lift of weightlessness in a zen state.
Studying the effects of a Users obsession with Anti-gravity
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The correlation of effective adult problem solving and earlier encouragement of and facility in manipulating objects has been established. The science of progressively more complex object play and its relation to overall competency has sparked research interest in corporate “work readiness”, in that a deficiency in fixing things by hand during one’s youth may well mean deficiencies in complex problem solving in challenging work settings as an adult. To be a good research engineer, for example may mean that the times spent in high school fixing cars or building airplane models are as important as getting an advanced degree, particularly if the engineer is also expected to function as an innovative problem solver.
Problem solving with Unidentified Fun Objects
THE
MORNING S Play Types
4SOCIAL #6TTORY-
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ELLING
The urge to play with others, in addition to being fun, is often driven by the desire to be accepted, to belong.
Kids start this process by “parallel” play, i.e, without much consciousness of the feelings or status of the play partner, But as development proceeds, friendships happen, empathy for another is felt, with mutual play as the crucible in which it becomes refined. Group loyalty and affection ensues, and with it the rudiments of a functioning community.
Study of belonging through social awkwardness
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The ability of the young child to create their own sense of their mind, and that of others, takes place through pretend play, which continues to nourish the spirit throughout life, and remains key to innovation and creativity. Deprivation studies uphold the importance of this pattern of play, as understanding and trusting others and developing coping skills depends on its presence.
Go where no one has gone before
Making sense of the world, its parts and one’s particular place in it is a central aspect of early development. And as we grow, the constancy of stories that enliven and help us understand ourselves and others, from a parent’s telling how it was when they were young, to mediadriven stories like Big Bird’s rants to Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon yarns; all involve us in a never ending fun-giving experience. They give us permission to expand our own inner stream of consciousness, enrich our personal narratives with pleasure and fun as our own life stories unfold. “What is the current movie of your life?” If it has comedic overtones, it is likely that your play quiver is more than half full.
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7 IVE
CREAT
We can access fantasy-play to transcend the reality of our ordinary lives, and in the process germinate new ideas, and shape and re-shape them. Given enriched circumstances, and access to novelty, our play drive takes us into these realms spontaneously. Whether like Einstein imaginatively riding pleasurably on a sunbeam at the speed of light, or a light-hearted group of IDEO corporation designers wildly imagining a new product, each is using their playfulness to innovate and create. With the advent of brain imaging technology, these natural tendencies, so important to adaptation in a changing world, may be better understood and fostered.
Diagnosing the amperage of the ‘muse’ spark
It is in their capacity to produce a sense of timelessness, pleasure and the altered state of vicarious involvement that identifies narrative and storytelling with states of play.
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IDENTIFY
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VISUALIZE
PLAY RESEARCH SYNTHESIS Both ‘art’ & ‘play’ are synonymous with one another. The ‘art of play’ is something every work environment could benefit from, if they are not already.
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“
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PLAY IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESEARCH.
T ALEBIENR STE
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Play is linked with art on several occasions. The impulse to create art is a result of a play impulse (Brown and Vaughan 61, 2009). “That is how we look at our life over time, and observe the origins of many artistic expressions, they are rooted in early play behavior that gets encouraged by natural talent and richness of opportunity in the environment (Brown and Vaughan 61, 2009).” Art – music, dance theatre and painting – so often bring people to congregate. It is part of a deep, preverbal communication that binds people together by promoting community integration and interaction.
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PLAY, PHILLY Getting adults to play by breaking down the connotation of the word “play”
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AMERICAN CULTURE WAS FOUNDED BY PURITANS AND OTHERS WHO LIVED BY THE WORK ETHIC. THEY BELIEVED THAT HARD WORK IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT, THAT THE SOLUTION TO ANY PROBLEM IS TO WORK HARDER.
”
JOHMN ORREALL, PH.D., HUMO R WORKS
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Y T I V I CREAT I THES
O P P O S I T E OF
ROUTINE
A Plan to Break Routine
For all of the weather has caused in the fulfillment of this project, it’s ironic that snow gives us a glimmer into a fairly standard routine-breaker for city dwellers. There is something so beautifully simple about snow. Its effects are viral on a level we can’t begin to comprehend. Whenever it snows, people go into an absolute frenzy. They completely change their routine; often completely changing demeanor. The idea of a snow day, gives the User permission to change their tactics and behaviors. So instead of a boardroom, it’s a snowboard. Instead of fighting with clients, it’s snowball fights with strangers. Lobby men turn into snowmen.
Snow is anticipated thanks to modern technology, but its power lies in the variables that no one can quite predict yet. Quantity. Duration. Coverage Area. No matter how advanced we develop as a society there’s still something to be said about the unknown variable and the anticipation of an upcoming event. Sure, you have an idea of how that event will play out, but the consequence results in a level of spontaneous action that you cannot predict. People become creative. They mold, shape, throw and frolic. They use the material to show expressive meaning because they can. Snow gives the Users permission to wreak havoc.
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The Urban Playground Project
Included in this box
THE PLAYERS, BOARD, AND PIECES TO PLAY THE GAME
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The Urban Playground Project
PLAY FOR ALL
CAMPAIGNING FOR PLAY
Convincing people they need to stop and “play” isn’t exactly easy. There are tons of stigma that needs to be dealt with in order to break through to that inner child. Most adults have an innate sense of responsibility ingrained into their mind-set, and think that the only time for play exists as a happy hour after work. One of the most common phrases you hear amongst the 9 to 5 workers is “I work hard, and I play hard.” But play shouldn’t be hard. Play should be easy, or at the very least moderately challenging. So how do you convince urban mindset individuals, who are up on current events, heavily involved in politics, enjoy the culture, retail, and eclectic experience that living in a city gives them, that it is okay to play? You brand it as the next hot thing to do.
People love their brands. Ask anyone on the street what they are wearing, or where they are headed and most will recite a veritable mall directory. Advertising has become so pervasive into daily life that the subliminal has no need to be subliminal anymore. Messages are fed to us as part of our daily intake of information. So to break the stigma of play, it made sense to create a brand that allows the User to enjoy a playful moment, just as they would enjoy a cup of coffee, a pair of shoes, or some word Paris Hilton deems necessary to your everyday dialogue. Thus, PlayPhilly was born. What PlayPhilly stands for is quite simple, a playful interaction in a public space. It should connect people, with each other and with the environment. PlayPhilly aims
to revitalize socially challenged public spaces in Philadelphia by engaging individuals and the community with play. Play has the potential to strengthen civil moral, enrich public spaces and improve well being all for little to no cost. Play is a socially acceptable means of expression, and needs to be treated and talked about as such. We are no longer tied to our ingrained cultural beliefs. It is OK to play past the age of 12.
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Campaigning for Play
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LOGOTYPE
SWATCH PALETTE
TAGLINE
recess is in session.
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Campaigning for Play
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The first phase of this project is to create marketable branding initiative that is attractive to both the city and citizens. The branding package consists of a logo, mission statement and campaign strategies (which includes ads, media placement, asset release timeline and a website). While it is important that these elements function seamlessly and engage people, it is equally important that the attitude and feel of the brand is happy and fun.
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Campaigning for Play
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The audience that PlayPhilly sought after was initially the creative class of Philadelphia. Key creative leaders in the areas of advertising, design, interactivity, and fine art, were brought together in hopes of opening a dialogue between the people that lived and worked downtown. The goal was to spark interest in developing partnerships amongst local companies who work predominantly outside of Philadelphia to look at their own home city for a change.
The Urban Playground Project
Campaigning for Play
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Topics of the evening revolved around the existing forms of PlayPhilly, foosball and beer.
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EAT, WORK, PLAY
The Urban Playground Project
DEVELOPING A SYSTEM FOR PLAY
The intended outcome of this project is to demonstrate the validity of the power of ‘play’ as an urban revitalization strategy. It expects to: 1 Produce prototypes for potential public play that may be permanently installed in Philadelphia 2 Raise the general spirit of the community and the City’s pride in its creative imagination 3 Develop new strategies for public art investigating sites, new media and technologies, sustainability, project size, duration, form, User participation 4 Seek out partnerships from companies seeking to further their core brand essence with the community 5 Investigate the process in which these interventions come into play 6 Document the results for future knowledge share
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NEW SITES
NEW MEDIA & TECH
SUSTAINABLE
SCALE
DURATION
PROCESS
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FORM
PARTICIPATION
NEW PARTNERS
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The Urban Playground Project
Developing a System for Play
P l ay, P h i l ly
PLAYPHILLY.ORG Organization of the website is crucial to the effectiveness of User participation. There will be a working calendar used for both scheduling and announcing events, a place for the public to input their ideas and location suggestions, uploading capabilities so that Users can showcase their playful experiences, and contact information. The web site is a means of connecting citizens, the city, creative collaborators and tourists. It is the social facilitator before, during and long after PlayPhilly events. PlayPhilly the web site is tool that allows citizens to enter and vote for spaces in Center City desperate for revitalization. The proposed sites we are calling ‘zombie’ or ‘Z’ zones, will be prioritized by the percentage of working population in that area, square footage ratio of concrete to green space, and the amount of observable time people spend in the space. The lower amount of social love a zone receives the higher it will appear on the list. Getting User feedback is key. A major problem with spaces downtown is that “nobody realizes there is an issue”, and they won’t unless they experience something different. In order to determine if that difference makes a difference, it is important that we engage modern technology to allow the User to give immediate feedback about the specific intervention. The city/ artist can then use that feedback to better shape the design of the interventions moving forward. We refer to this as ‘open source urban planning.’ It allows the community to speak and shape the elements around it.
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Grayspaces. The concrete flatland create lifeless spans that we canno re-energize these spaces through good for the mind, soul & well-bein thinking as well as energizing the b the city mediocrity with a little help class.
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P l ay, P h i l ly Working with local development firm Rock River Star, a complete UX/UI was developed for playphilly.org that would allow for multiple platform Users (iPad, smartphones, etc.) to be able to view, comment, or post their own ideas either on their own time or live from an event. Unfortunately, due to a lack in funding, the design could never be implemented.
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ds that connect our buildings ot avoid. We look to creativity with play. Play is ng. Play sparks innovative body. Our goal is to dissolve from its Users and creative
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The Urban Playground Project
THE
PLAYBOOK As a means of organizing and developing ideas for urban interventions, a shared ‘Playbook’ was developed. Within a play idea was a noted site, duration, tools, technology and status of each project, as well as any important comments/details. The intervention material choices speak to sustainability and a DIY culture. All the ideas can be executed for under $100, and they are made from objects found on the street, in the home or online. The playbook served as a journal to document the iterative process of idea development. Each time an intervention was executed, something was learned that could, and did, improve it or make it more dynamic. It was the goal to push the boundaries of technology and new media as well as experiment with specific play types.
Developing a System for Play
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The Urban Playground Project
THE
PLAYS The notion of bringing play back into one’s life as an adult needs to be a topic of discussion. Play and its association with a work environment need to be addressed as an opportunity to be a harmonious venture, just as a collaborative effort is. This movement should address all forms of play including: Permanent vs. Temporary Observable vs. Participatory Analog vs. Digital Gorilla vs. Permission The overall goal should be developing ‘play’ methodologies. Tools for design that: increase dialogue, enhance understanding about people and places, fuel innovation, improve wellbeing. Methods for human-centered design such as: observations, interviews, mapping, creating prototypes, synthesizing large amounts of data, researching historical literature and current trends.
The two fundamental aspects of play addressed were: observable and participatory. These are the two most basic ways to experience or engage people with play. The play type should be considered when applied in the public space. Different people, depending on their circumstances, need to be approached in different ways. Children, most naturally, participate with play while adults typically watch. This doesn’t always have to be the case though. Hypothetically, an adult will think more innovativly if given the tools and instructions to act like a kid. To experiment with this idea, it was necessary to execute various interventions that addressed both observable and participatory play as well as more specific play types such as: object play, social play, movement and body play, storytelling, imagination and pretend play. The goal was to find out when a User transitions from observing to participating and what was more enjoyable for them. What does it take for an adult to act like a kid again? The answer: ‘Make it bright and make it big!’
In addition to designing interventions along observable-participatory criteria, it was important to address new technologies and techniques. Each intervention fell along a scale between analog and digital. The successes and failures observed were noted and taken into consideration for follow-up reiterations. There didn’t seem to be a direct correlation between the success of interventions and how technologically advanced they were. Interventions that were entirely analog had the same if not more impact than those that were digital.
Developing a System for Play
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IDENTIFY
EXECUTE
VISUALIZE
YIELDING RESULTS The following interventions all have been known to cause moments of “joy.” Viewer discretion be advised. You should absolutely try these at home.
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The Urban Playground Project
GRASS ROOTS MAPPING
NEW METHODS FOR DOCUMENTATION
Grassroots mapping was started by Jeffery Warren at MIT as a thesis project for DIY documentation. Jeffery noticed a problem with the information people were getting about environmental disasters such as the oil leak in the gulf. The problem is that communities are only given information from the people with access to it. Typically it is the groups that are trying to hide information from you that you are receiving information from. Warren’s technique uses a 6’ diameter weather balloon and lightweight continuous shooting mode camera to capture aerial photography. William Whyte found aerial photography to be essential in documenting public spaces and understanding traffic
patterns. Following his advice, ‘grassroots mapping’ was adopted as a method for recording aerial site footage. Grassroots mapping is DIY and can be executed for under 100$. While the product itself will be a detailed view of the spaces and people in them, flying a 6’ yellow balloon through the vast corridors of a downtown city can garner a lot of playful attention. Grassroots mapping is a playful way to gather site data while also engaging the public with some observable play. The large yellow balloon, as it passes by the windows of bored workers sitting in their cubicles, inherently becomes a tool for dialog and community building. The playful act of flying a massive balloon
throughout the city is not destructive but intriguing. A User is allowed to create levels of engagement with the object specific to their situation and mood. For example, a worker might ask themselves: ‘Do I just glance at it or do I talk about it with a colleague?’ Maybe an observer creates different funny scenarios about the balloon, as one worker told us was happening in her office. Maybe the observer goes as far as walking up to the window and taking a break to watch it soar past the windows. Despite the level of engagement with the playful object, if it has intrigued people, it has succeeded. If it in any way alters one’s routine in a positive way, it has succeeded.
New Methods of Documentation
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A test shot of the PlayCam from 60 feet above the ground. The entire setup was built for roughly$70 with $50 of that being the camera. Complete instructions on construction can be found in Appendix III.
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The use of this method was successful on multiple levels. Its original intent to give bird’s-eye views of the depressed spaces proved invaluable in measuring traffic flow. Where the PlayCams truly inspired, however, was in the faces of the onlookers. The responses from the viewers on the ground were extremely positive. People would stare, point and have discussions about the mysterious yellow ball in the sky. Comments overheard were “I love it, that’s awesome, what’s that for?” People would take pictures of the balloon and with it. Kids wanted to touch it, adults wanted to know what its purpose was.
The Urban Playground Project
Collecting clear images from grassroots mapping took numerous flights and a lot of patience. After each flight attempt, more understanding about handling the balloon and improved technique developed. The problem with image clarity was not our ability to manage the flight; it was the cooperation with the weather. Turbulence is a constant issue. Finding a camera to take more shots at faster intervals could warrant a solution to bad weather. However, if the air is incredibly still the images will lead to amazing results.
New Methods for Documentation
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To finalize the intervention, the images were imported into a program called ‘Photosynth’ that patches them together. The results are these amazing interactive maps of downtown center city. You can vertically turn, twist and zoom in and out of the composition, just like the features on Google earth. The exact moments and times of maps were created, and therefore, it is simple to replicate the process during an intervention to gauge the changes in population density and record User behaviors to particular scenarios.
New Methods of Documentation
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“Love from Above� JFK Park as seen from PlayCam1. The complete interactive experience can be viewed at http://photosynth.net/
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The Urban Playground Project
New Methods of Documentation
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“2 Penn Plaza� as seen from PlayCam1. The complete interactive experience can be viewed at http:// photosynth.net/
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The Urban Playground Project
New Methods of Documentation
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“City Hall Philly� Dilworth Plaza as seen from PlayCam1. The complete interactive experience can be viewed at http://photosynth.net/
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The Urban Playground Project
SITE BOARD
NEW METHODS FOR FEEDBACK
Site board is a DIY analog urban intervention designed to test the ‘play’ participation of Users in a public space and generate feedback. It can be used as a tool for starting dialogue and method for self-expression in urban settings. The idea to install a moveable clear frame into a public space was inspired by the same ‘framing’ method artists use to create compositions in their mind from a landscape. It is a visualization tool. Artists will hold their hands out in the shapes of ‘L’s’ to form the implied corners of a frame. When people see things through frames they tend to stop, at least for a brief moment, and notice what they are looking at. Artist types may squint, get real close, or step real far away. They will twist their heads from side to side to envision their environment in a different way. Could the general public do the same? How would the general public react to a giant message board with markers just resting in a space?
New Methods of Feedback
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173 The ability to perceive what doesn’t exist is an ability we lose during the transition from child to adulthood. Getting Users to visualize in a slightly different dimension is the ultimate goal of the site board.
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The Urban Playground Project
D E T A C S I F N O C WED) O L L A OOLERY F M O (NO T
The first attempt to engage people was short lived. The design of the boards, scale/ surface area or ‘wing span’ doubled as a sail in a wind. After a big gust, the board was off like it had a mind of its own. Even wedged between two concrete pillars the site board managed to tip over in reaction to the wind. Weather strikes again. Improvising, we laid the castor on its side and propped it up against the base of a sculpture. It was not until then that our first Users arrived; four boys, brothers. They approached the board with the familiar energy children have around something new and different. The father of the boys stood off to the side screaming behavioral commands while the children played as if he wasn’t even there. At first they sat on the castor and tagged their names on the frame.
Lesson learned: Children will play with anything that allots them ability to wreak havoc and create visual marking. Adults needs something with a bit more oomph.
New Methods of Feedback
P l ay, P h i l ly
Made for less of a toy and more of a wind blown artifact
We learned a great deal from the site board installation that inferred our decisions for the second reiteration. First, It was very obvious that adults did not want to play, and children couldn’t help it. This was the parallel synthesis of the interviews we conducted with people that used the space daily. The opinions were that the downtown public space of Philadelphia’s Center City is designed for work. It is a series of pedestrian thoroughfares. The purpose of the gray spaces between buildings is only transition; to move people from one place to another with as minimal distractions as possible. Like herding cattle into office cubicles. But at least cows have green space. The second thing we learned had to do with the context of the play object. Looking similar to a typical office tool, a white board, did not work to our advantage. Using white board markers, once again an object that
typically reminds someone of an office or school. Writing on a board feels like an action that happens at school or work. Going to school or work is typically what people feel like they have to do and not what they want to do. It was apparent that if we wanted richer information and participation, then the delivery needed to be more obscure and playful. It needed to be something people wanted to touch and interact with. The goal was to use this method of play to create dialogue with Users; encourage people to stop and be aware of their environment; appreciate their surroundings; look at the landscape in a different way; go crazy and possibly talk to a stranger. For this to happen you need to get the attention of adult Users in a more creative unconventional way. The third and last major lesson few learned from the site board intervention, seemed to be that people needed increased or unfamiliar movements to
feel like they were ‘playing.’ Even though Play fosters innovation, creativity, and positive health, workers are hesitant to do it because of social stigma and fear of ‘wasting time’ or acting ‘childish.’ The intervention needs to be borderline absurd. Our synthesis from this intervention was that adult User participation would increase under different circumstances such as: with objects that can’t be linked to any work or school associations; objects that invite new ways to move or interact; objects that stand out against the bland urban fabric. (The original site board was clear with a gray frame on a silver metal castor. It is a presence in a room, but in the vast concrete sprawl of downtown Philadelphia, it just gets lost. From a distance it was urban camouflaged.You could hardly notice something was there.)
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“WHAT WE NEED ARE SOME BIG A%$ CRAYONS.”
New Methods of Feedback
P l ay, P h i l ly
What was learned from the site board installation inferred the next attempt to create dialogue and generate User feedback in a public space. Looking at childhood tools for inspiration and considering the effects that objects applied out of context has on people. The next intervention had to battle the space, weather, and break the stigma of play in such a way so as to engage the adult User by speaking to their innerchild. So the obvious answer seemed to be, crayons.
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SUMMARY
We should never stop playing, therefore, PlayPhilly won’t either.
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The Urban Playground Project
Summary
“
You don’t have to have rules or goals or a board or even anything to play with except each other. But whatever it is that you’re playing, there are two things you have to take seriously: being together, and the sheer fun of it all. No game is more important than the experience of being together, being joined, being equal - governed by the same rules, playing for the same purpose. And no purpose is more uniting and freeing than the purpose of being fun
”
with each other.
BERNIE N DEKOVE
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PROJECT OUTCOMES
What was originally a project to develop a strategy for opening a dialogue between the city and its Users by imparting play in peoples lives, truly turned into a journey of understanding the human condition. A few points really stood out over the length of this process.
Play is a true aid in fighting depression.
Act quickly, ask forgiveness.
Summary
People have a passion for play, more importantly, there is a need for it. People are willing to participate if given the opportunity.
People visualize more when you The downtown of give them the a city is designed “permission� to work. to refrain from adult thinking.
40° Weather can be beaten.
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ENERGIZE A SPACE Each public space is different, as is each User. But by utilizing large playful objects that a majority of the general public is familiar with you offer that User permission to act like a child or, as some would say, “wreak havoc on their environment.”
NT E M E V (MO PLAY)
Project Outcomes
Summary
(SOCIAL PLAY) ENGAGE ONE ANOTHER Because of these shared experiences, Users will drop the typical “city blinders” to help aid in the game of the intervention. Posing, photo taking, conversations on similar memories (storytelling), role-playing, laughter, and movement all become part of the performance. It soon becomes an observable action that even the non-participant Users become a part of. A group action occurs, and in extreme cases, leaders step out to inquire on how to continue the action. In the case of Big Chalkers, TD Bank, who populates the northeast corner of the plaza, wants to maintain a steady stash of green crayons for plaza Users. George Bi,Vice President of the location, suggests that, “if you give people an outlet to be creative, they will take to it, respect it and want to see it grow. [That is]Something TD Bank firmly believes in and supports.”
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ION (IMAGINAT
PLAY) LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD Social media has helped the loud get louder, and the coy to at least voice their opinion behind a faceless screen. Many city dwellers still keep to themselves and deny their right to civic action. There was a beautiful freedom to the analog statements however. They weren’t politically charged, or offensive. It seems the act of “being seen while in the making” forced the Users to be profoundly loose in their sentiment, but it gave them opportunity.
Project Outcomes
Summary
While “I Love You” dominated the chalk work, phrases of hope, such as the above sprinkled through out.
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Future installation, “Floralgami” had help form many hands who put their own personal touch to each flower
You can literally have you voice be heard in the “Phone Home” intervention, as the rig allows up to 10 seconds of your own message to be left for the next passerby
Summary
The Urban Playground Project
(STORY
TELLING PLAY)
This anonymous office worker chased down the balloon to find out its purpose, it was “the talk of the office”
SPARK THE BRAIN
It has been said from the beginning that “one playful action leads to another, and another, and another,” but seeing it actually take place, was an action unto itself. Timid Users followed more adventurous ones.Young children involved adults. Office workers postulated stories amongst each other. The actions fed into each other, and soon creativity was following suit, not just on the ground or in the air, but in Twitterverses and status updates. The goal, and ultimate success, was to interfere with the User enough so that they would dynamically change their office routine, if only for a moment.
A User quite literally chased us down in order to solve the mystery of the big yellow balloon. While sitting in her cubicle at work she, “was just completely distracted by the massive balloon going by my 10th Floor office window. All afternoon my coworker and I started Facebooking back and forth wondering what the deal was. Her suggestion was that it must be a homeless guy. I was like where would he get a massive yellow balloon?.”
Summary
“ It’s
“
“
”
probably some homeless guy.
”
ive yellow balloon? Where would he get a mass
”
...he’s a homeless carney?
E H T N O D R OVERHEAOOR... 10TH FL
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FINAL QUEST IONS
WHAT WAS LEARNED?
Knowledge
Grant Writing Kickstarting
Web Site
Funding
Feedback Social Incubators
TOOLS
Mattel
Suppliers
Lego
Viral
Marketing
Social Produced
Commuters
Flash Mobs
Moore
Object Play Performance
Tourists
PAFA
Projects
Citizens
Residents
PEOPLE
Spontaneous Fixt
METHODS
ignite
Artists Events
UArts Space 1026 The Hacktory
Respecting the User is first and foremost of any human center design. The city was designed as a place of work in a time of futurama and economic optimism. The predominant reason people are downtown is to work there. It is important to not hinder that usage, but to embrace and aid in it. If an individual office environment can not support or aid in the lives of the people that work in them, then a city space can and should be a refuge for them. It should inspire and invigorate without disrupting.
Open Dialog
Workspace
Microsoft
Workers
Taking empathy with your Users.
Tools
Testing Ground
Makers
Fringe Fest
DesignPhilade
™
HIVE
Clearly identify a project and participant roles.
Play as a design tool to communicate to various User groups.
With great power comes great responsibility. Lofty goals require a bit more of a focused lens in which to form a foundation. By never really answering a very core question using the same verbiage, or even having the same goal, it was left too open-ended. By taking on multiple roles, projects got over-extended, pushed, or completely pushed to the side. By defining roles not just for the creative team, but for those that wish to participate, tasks can be more focused.
Design at its core is about communicating solutions to problems whether that is graphic, environmental, social or otherwise. Design fails when it cannot communicate between the necessary User groups. Play, and elements of playful action, bridged the language gap between so many different User groups in such an effortless fashion. Age, sex, race, financial well-being did not become an issue in trying to communicate a function of each intervention.
Final Questions
AWARENESS
ASSESSMENT
Summary
ENGAGEMENT
y
tures
elphia
Simplify the system. The initial proposal was a lofty goal trying to tie together multiple resources, creatives, initiatives and organizations. By stepping back, it truly could have been streamlined into a simple 3-phase process. Generating awareness of play benefits on your daily life through a grassroots campaign effort to build community. Learn through current methods of assessment in urban spaces and how people can benefit from a better engagement with those surroundings.
Create simple ways in which to get Users to engage with the spaces and provide feedback that can be used to further dialogues on official levels about how to adapt the space for a healthier, happier city experience.
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HOW DID RESEARCH INFORM DESIGN ACTIONS?
Like the Constitution, PlayPhilly started with the people, for the people, and by the people. The main issue that kept coming up, however, is that the Users could not visualize a space any different than what they experienced every day. The question of, “Why? What is wrong with these spaces?” had to constantly be addressed. So it became necessary to remove the Users from their routine line of thinking, acting, and being, in order for their thoughts to come to fruition. Literary and ‘in the field’ research inferred many of the decisions made throughout the process of this project, starting with William Whyte. The value Whyte put on aerial photography as a means of documenting public spaces inspired ‘Grassroots Mapping,’ our playful DIY intervention that did much
more than obtain visual data. Flying a six-foot diameter balloon around the downtown sparked conversations with the public, generated countless moments of triangulation, and politely disrupted the mundane routines of the office workers tucked in their cubicles high above the streets. Research on Philadelphia’s downtown informed us to take action in that area of the city Research observations made us conceive more dynamic ways of engaging Users. Research on play and how it fuels creativity and innovation informed us to push our own creative boundaries. The more out of context the object, the more success we got out of people using it.
By continuing through the design process of Identify-Visualize-ExecuteSynthesis over various iterations, the project developed more clarity in its end goal. While this particular hypothesis of “reenergizing public spaces with people through acts of play” saw success through this method, many more issues can be tackled through a lens of playful interaction bridging a communication gap between two or more parties.
Final Questions
Summary
WHAT WOULD CHANGE IF THERE WAS MORE TIME?
As previously stated, clearly defining roles and a mission from the outset can save in the long run. However, having the foresight, steps would have been put in place to better fill necessary roles and in finding aid. Funding. A fairly large setback for us was having a low budget. While a huge part of PlayPhilly is making play free, or at the very least cost-effective, this leaves very little room for error in terms of being able to fully prototype those solutions. Also, many aspects of the project fell by the wayside due to our inability to further develop them – the website being a huge example. The original intent was to heavily market the web site as a means for generating feedback that planners, city officials, or other artists could use to further warrant discussion on certain topics. Unfortunately, many of the proposed ideas required more technical expertise than could be achieved without acquiring outside help.
Marketing. The name is certainly making the rounds, but one of the weak aspects of the project is still marketing the idea and purpose. If given more time, a better plan would have been developed from the outset to correctly develop a strategy for engaging the public with the interventions themselves as opposed to the spontaneous nature of it all.
Collaboration. This is difficult to dissect, as many outside forces hampered the level of collaboration, not simply amongst ourselves, but outside interests as well. The sheer volume of work that was taken on, along with the undefined aspects of the project, made working difficult, and often came across as unorganized. Processes need to be developed for ways in which to engage other artists, aid in funding, as well as in fabrication. All of which will be addressed in what’s next for PlayPhilly.
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Final Questions
Summary
WHAT’S NEXT?
Moving forward there were a few things that stood out and need to be further addressed. First and foremost, there is a strong desire from the public wanting to engage in fun and playful ways. There just is not enough ample opportunity within our “playground” to do so. Furthermore, the public was looking for outlets in which to share. Whether it be photos, stories or simply comments, the Users looked toward any outlet in which to engage someone else in conversation. Simpler methods of creating live feedback systems need to be developed in order to continue the dialogs.
Finally, the city needs to see this feedback. As PlayPhilly matures in the public eye, the spotlight will begin to shift as a source of creating valuable information. No longer can a city try to address its populace as it has. More proactive measures to instill a knowledge transfer – whether that be the top-down or visa-versa needs – to be established. Because of the tremendous support in the simplest of actions that was experienced during this project, and the inherent need of playful actions, not just in outside urban setting, but in the everyday lives of people, there seemed to be no choice but to develop this idea further.
Welcome, PlayPhilly, LLC. PlayPhilly will be a venture dedicated to using play as a bridge to develop and communicate design solutions. Over the next year, it will be participating in various Philadelphia-based events, and working with local organizations to create not just an awareness but a need for play in each of our daily lives.
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Our company mission and goals as seen by Wordle.
E H T T E L AMES G VER NE ND. E
The Urban Playground Project
A Celebration of
along with a few other lessons learned while trying to view public spaces from a different perspective
213
215
public art should engage the public
people make a space
217
size matters
219
a bad space will always point out the obvious
221
if given the means‌
223
…always leave your mark.
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never stop playing
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The Urban Playground Project
“
It is not the excellence of the act that is important. It is the fact that it is there that bonds people, and sometimes a really bad act will work even better than a good one.
W LLIAM
WHYTE
�
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APPENDIX I Glossary & Timeline
Appendix I
The Urban Playground Project
TERMS Undesirables - homeless occupants of public spaces. Trianulation - the process by which some external stimulus provides a linkage between people and prompts strangers to talk to each other as though they were not. Legibility - the visual quality of an American city based on the mental image of that city which is held by its citizens. Vitality - an assessment of a city based on space’s mixed primary uses, generated by diversity and activated at different times of day -how it functions as an organism The Playground - the public spaces at the core of Center City Philadelphia addressed specifically by PlayPhilly for the Urban Playground Project: Municipal Services Plaza, Dilworth Plaza, Penn 2 Plaza, JFK Plaza and Love Park. Creative Vitality Index (CVI) - a progress report that uses readily available, inexpensive data on employment and community participation to measure Philadelphia’s arts-related creative sector and compares our performance to the national benchmarks Grassroots Mapping - a DIY mapping technique developed by Jeffery Warren at MIT that uses weather balloons and lightweight continuous mode shooting cameras to take aerial photography. Photosynth - a PC program used to stitch pictures together so that you can manipulate them by zooming in and out and rotating views.
ORGANIZATIONS CCD - Center City District OACCE - Office of Arts and Culture in the Creative Economy PPS - Project for Public Spaces FPAA - Fairmount Park Art Association PMAP - Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (formerly the Anti-Graffiti Network) WESTAF - Western States Arts Federation GPTMC - Greater Philadelphia Tourism
Glossary & Timeline
Appendix I
TIMELINE 11 NOV 1-7 11 20-27 29 30
Developing Concepts for an ‘Urban Playground Project’ Contact National Institute of Play Create Press Kit Meeting with Play expert, Anna Beresin Introduction to Project for Public Spaces (PPS) website -http://www.pps.org/
12 DEC 3 4 6 12 17 29 31
Birth of the PlayPhilly logos Proposal 1 due Connection made with Gary Stewer & the OACCE New PlayPhilly abstract revelation William Whyte’s ‘The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces’ arrives Acquire ‘The Art of Placemaking’ book Giac’s new camera arrives
1 JAN 3 4 7 10-24 13-15 17 18 19 19-20 20 21 24 26 29 30 31
‘Urban Interventions’ book arrives Kris’s new camera arrives Development of plan to make Philadelphia the ‘City of Play’ Launch PlayPhilly Website Site Observations and mapping Interviewing and profiling Users Launch Vimeo Account Enter Mural Arts Competition Photo Documentation of PP spaces Create stencils of logos to spray paint Gorilla marketing ‘Philadelphia Weekly’s’ Foose or Loose kick-off event Revise project statement Reach out to Marianne Berstein Photo documentation of PP spaces Presentation to research psychologist Debbie Kohl Contacted by Jane Golden Become finalist in Mural Arts competition ‘What is Muralism in the 21st Century’ Turned onto Playscapes Blog -http://playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/ Contact made with famous urban artist, Alexandre Farto
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2 FEB 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 11-12 11 15 15-17 16 17 18 20 21 21 22 22-26 23 28
Visualizing the PlayPhilly design process Site interviews with Dunkin Dounts Site visit to the Gallery w/ Mural Arts, ‘How Philly Moves’ Contact public artist -John Phillps Read ‘Achieving great federal public spaces’ Contact Mimi & Dan Sheller, Professor of Sociology Review of MGA partners and the Center City District to rethink Broad St Contact Allen Greenberger Visualizing how PlayPhilly would function as a non-profit organization Contact made with Jeff Warren about Grassroots mapping Foose or Loose Kick-off with local creatives First meeting with local public artist Marianne Berstein Photo documentation of ‘PlayPhilly Urban Playground’ spaces Mural Arts Competition Meeting with John Phillips Prototyping Site Board 2nd Meeting at the Gallery Mall with Mural Arts – Joan & Jonas Present Reach out to Flower Show vendors Second meeting with Marianne Berstein Community Design Collaborative (CDC) meeting – Urban Energy Visual Thinking Workshop ‘American Playgrounds’ book arrives 3rd meeting with M.B. on the roof of Gershim Y; given 1st prototype from Home Depot Begin visualizing intervention installations: Site Board & Grassroots Mapping Visualizing intervention: Big Chalkers Visualizing a ‘Playbook’ to organize and plan social interventions Synthesizing the Mural Arts process Further visualization of how ‘PlayPhilly’ would function as a network Build first prototype for ‘Playhouse’ Presentation 2 Purchase 200 yards of yellow vinyl
3 MARCH 1-22 1 2 3 4 4 5-6 6-7 7 8 8-9 9 9-10
Prototyping Big Crayons Contact Jude, artist friend Place large order for PlayPhilly supplies Measuring & cutting Playhouse cover 1st Grassroots Mapping flight Installation of urban intervention: Site Board Pinning Playhouse cover Sewing & fitting Playhouse cover Meeting with M.B., Playhouse shifts directions Develop new fabrication method for Playhouse Fitting chalk tips into cardboard tubing Photo documentation of site: The Concorse Purchase PVC piping and begin building Playhouse 2.0
Glossary & Timeline
10 11 12 14 14-15 15-19 16 16-17 18 19 19 19-20 20 21 22 23 24 25 29 30
Appendix I
Largest pour of chalk tip molds Create crayon labels Negative Call from Mural Arts about legalities Mural Arts calls to apologize for the misunderstanding 27 web hits Community day at the Gallery Mall – Intervention ‘Motion Wall’ & ‘Floragami’ Meeting with M.B. – New PVC Prototype works great -huge success Meeting with Alex Gillian of Public Workshop Re-fabricating yellow vinyl Playhouse cover to fit PVC piping Prototyping “Phone Home” intervention Meeting with Urban Playground Visualizing interventions: Phone Home, Floragami, May Pole, Ted Stop, Express Lane, Best St.Performer Site documentation: Phone Home M.B. presents legal terms Adding ropes to the interior of the PVC Playhouse Purchase, dye & rivet May Pole ribbons Receive terms for ‘Philly’s Got Talent’ May pole installation Large crayons completely finished Invited to “Playlink” workshop Presentation 3 Field trip to Public Workshops installation at the National Building Museum in D.C. Big Chalkers Urban Intervention Installation 2nd Fly of Grassroots Mapping Recruit 3 talent acts for “P.G.T.” 3rd Fly of Grassroots Mapping – Success! Thesis rough draft manuscript finished
4 APRIL 3 9 15 20
‘Exposing the Magic of Design’ book arrives End of year exhibit announced Thesis review of progress Final Thesis Critiques
5 MAY 2 13 6-25
Final Thesis Presentations Final Thesis Book Due Gallery Show 235
APPENDIX II Methods Templates
A p p e n d i x II
The Urban Playground Project
F
Age:
Name
M
Occupation & Title: Martial M D Status: S Family Information:
(1= never plays 10=always plays)
Name, Age, Sex
Hometown?
Family play practices/history
Frequency of family Play? 1 - 10 on a weekly basis
# of Children:
Live Presently? Why?
Work
Insert image here
This profile is property of University of the Arts Master of Industrial Design (MiD) thesis, 'PlayPhilly.' Authors: Giacomo Ciminello & Kristin Freese.
Observation Doodles
Where? Proximity to public space?
Where do you eat lunch? Why? Personal Preferences?
What besides eating do you do on your lunch break?
What do you do outdoors?
What about your coworkers?
Do you live on a schedule? Describe..
Have made a new friend or business network in a public space around work? How well do you know the people that work around here? Do you have a stressful job? How do you relieve stress at work? Commute? Tell us a little about your commute.
Public Space Opinions
Are you an outdoor or indoor person? Do you favor observable or participatory play? Why? Whats your ideal way to play? What would it take for you to play in a public space? What do you do to be social?
How important is public space to you?
What does it take to get you to use a public space?
What would you do to a public space if anything was possible?
What is your favorite public space in Philadelphia? In the world? Explain...
Interview Profile Sheet
Are you satisfied with the public spaces in Center City Philadelphia? Do you have any fond or depressing stories about one?
Methods Templates
URBAN INTERVENTION #0000
Title Goes Here DESCRIPTION
A p p e n d i x II
STATUS INSTALL DATE
MATERIALS
APPROACH
COLLABORATORS
INSTRUCTIONS
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Playbook Intervention Instruction Sheet
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ANALYSIS
Playbook Analysis Sheet
Methods Templates
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PREDICTED OUTCOME
LOCATION
USAGE
NOTES
241
ACTUAL OUTCOME
Playbook Site Analysis Sheet
APPENDIX III Web Site
A p p e n d i x III
The Urban Playground Project 1.2 logo
About
Play
1.1 1.4
1.14
Locations
Search
Events
Support
News
Projects
Top 10 Requested Locations
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Social Channels
view all
1.3
Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
mobile number or email notify me!
What is this all about?
1.5
1,234 votes so far 1.10
vote for change
1.15
submit idea 1.6
Site 0000
1.12
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
1.11 Location: 2 Penn Center
1.16
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing 1.13 elit. Aenean posuere euismod gravida. In eros tellus, molestie eget volutpat
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News
Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
(google map)
Play Rating: 2.1 Comments from the field | Submit Comment
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
Project Title - Artist Location Project Title - Artist Location
Site Photos/Video
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
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Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
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Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
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1.8 View the
Project Gallery
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Web Site
1. HOMEPAGE Some general notes on site functionality. Designed on a 960 grid for the most part with a full screen background image and slide navigation locked to the left of the browser frame. .1 Main Navigation There are 5 main pages of textual content, each with their own drop down menu to sub categories. These are delineated in the sitemap. One click each goes to the “home” of that area’s particular content. Those pages will be forth-coming. .2 Social Navigation Icons linking off to the various social connections will be featured here. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,Vimeo. .3 Play Notification Signup A subscription capture device for either a mobile number or email. These will be managed by other web sites, simply need a form to catch it. .4 Site Content Switch Each background image is really denoting one of two classes. A “site” that is in disrepair, and should have art/culture applied to it, or a “project” that an artist has proposed. In this current view we are seeing the top 10 most voted sites, by the general public to get a “play” activity involved. On the left at annotation 1.14 we see a tabbed menu system displaying which ranked site we are currently viewing. It is number 1. More details on this in 1.14. Underneath the “Currently Viewing Locations” in 1.4 The User has the Abiility to switch the site to “Project” view, which changes the top 10 “sites” to the top 10 “projects” that the public would like to see happen. Both versions have a drop down listing of each based on their title. .5 Mission Statement Simple text based content area featuring a content title, Sub title, and copy
.6 News Section The most recent post entry would be the top featured article with a title and initial teaser content with the ability to read more. The title listings below this are the past 4 post entries in the news section. .7 Twitter Feed Twitter feed, shows last 3 posts. .8 Site Content Switch Similar to 1.4 just bigger, and more visible, but this would switch the content from “sites” to “projects” .9 Tertiary Navigation Leftover nav items, each would go to its respective page. See the sitemap for more details. .10 User Input Navigation The purpose of this site is to get the general public to begin to speak out on specific sites within a city. In order to do that we need quick input such as a “vote for change” which tallies a vote to increase the sites rank in the queue. As well as the ability for each person to submit an idea for this site specifically as a proposal. Finally the User would also be able to share this site on Facebook in an effort to generate votes. .11 Site Title Each site will have a categorized number that corresponds to its location. The User can click on the location to pull up a quick google map. .12 Play Rating A site’s play rating can go up or down based on the amount of actual activity/ proposals the site sees. This will be managed by us, not the content authors. There’s a formula for this I swear. .13 Live Comments Each physical site also has a text number associated with it. Using PollsEverywhere.com we can use texts people send from their mobile phones to this number to display what people are saying about the site as they pass through
A p p e n d i x III
it., there is also an ability to submit your own comments on the site, however I don’t believe we will be able to tie this into the same field…unless it sends that comment to the text number? not necessary but should be noted. .14 Top Ten List The top ten list of sites/project is generated by how many votes each gets, therefore we will have the top ten worst sites, and the top ten best projects. Projects are a seperate entity, and do not necessarily associate themselves with a particular site..it can but doesn’t have too. The “view all” will take you to a page showing all of the site in simple thumbnail form ..details to follow. the votes accumulated also appears next to the ranking as each is clicked. When a number is clicked all of the associated content specific data swaps out with the new site, i.e background images, site number..basically 1.10-1.17 .15 Background As previously noted it is hoped that the entire site background is an image, series of images in a slideshow, or..blue sky.. video. .16 Events Listing here would be a listing of events to be implemented in the site. Data points involved are the Date, Time, Duration Title, Artist and ability to add to a Facebook events listing (possible?). Also is the ability to click view all which will go to a calendar of events for the month (see sitemap) as well as a “view previous” which takes the User to a gallery of project that have previously taken place in this site. .17 Photo Gallery These are photos/videos associated to this site. They are not event photos, just site specific photos/videos. .18 Hide Content Button This little bugger hides all content within this box
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The Urban Playground Project Social Channels logo
Locations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
About 2.1 mission
Projects
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What is this all about?
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
1,234 votes so far vote for change
feature image (or live video stream)
submit idea
News
Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Site 0000 Location: 2 Penn Center
(google map)
Play Rating: 2.1 Upcoming Events
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MONTH
sit amet, ornare vitae sapien.
DAY
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Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
2. MAIN MENU ROLLOVER Each Menu item has a drop down with roughly 3 sub pages.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Comments from the field | Submit Comment
Mauris quam neque, varius non tincidunt sit amet, vestibulum vitae massa. Suspendisse potenti.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
DAY
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location Project Title - Artist Location
Site Photos/Video
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending! View All
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
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All Documented Locations
3.2
mobile number or email notify me!
map view
3.1 What is this all about? Location
Location
Location
Location
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
Location
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream) Location
Location
Location
Location
Location
News
Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Location
Location
Location
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
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3. LOCATIONS LISTING
3.1 is a thumbnail view of a photo of a site, with the location name below. Both are clickable to bring up the specific location page.
The default view for viewing all of the locations when the User clicks “view all.”
3.2 Sends the User to the map view.
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view all
All Documented Locations
4.2
mobile number or email notify me!
list view
4.1 What is this all about?
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
Google Map
feature image (or live video stream)
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
News
Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
Contact
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
4. LOCATIONS LISTING – MAP VIEW The default view for viewing all of the locations when the User clicks “map view.”
4.1 is a placement of a google map where each site is being catalogued. 4.2 Sends the User to the previous list view.
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
5.2 Our Mission
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
What is this all about?
5.3
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
5.1 Who’s running this party?
5.4
Kristin
Contact
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
5. ABOUT / HOME
5.1 Featured Image area. Single image, won’t change.
The default view for when a User clicks on the “About” main menu item. The content field to the right summarizes subsequent sub pages as well as a secondary navigation unique to the About section. An image occupies the area to the left of the content field.
5.2 Section Navigation 5.3 Introductory text, most likely a snippet of the mission statement 5.4 Images that link to the team members as well as to the artists page
Giacomo
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6.2 Our Mission
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
What is this all about?
6.3
(slideshow of events in space)
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
6.1
Long List of Goals Long List of Goals 6.4
Long List of Goals Long List of Goals Long List of Goals Long List of Goals Long List of Goals Long List of Goals
Contact
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
6. ABOUT / OUR MISSION
6.1 Slideshow of images from an assortment of projects. 6.2 Section navigation with the activated page showing somehow in the menu. 6.3 Text content speaking in depth about the mission statement 6.4 More text basically just outlining project goals
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Our Mission
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
Who is running this party?
7.1
feature image (or live video stream)
7.2
First Last Name Title
First Last Name Title
Bio
Bio
Personal Site
7.3
Work
Personal Site Work
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
7. ABOUT / TEAM
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Contact
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7.1 Text introducing the project members and why they are working on this 7.2 Project member module. Similar in format to the upcoming artists modules. These depict an image, first name, last name, organizational title, as well as link out to a personal site. 7.3 A terciary nav (tabbed or accordian) displays either the bio or the work.
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Our Mission
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
8.2 8.1
First Last Name
First Last Name
First Last Name
First Last Name
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
Contact
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
8. ABOUT / ART The default view for viewing all of the artists involved in PlayPhilly.
Who is making these projects?
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
8.1 Introductory text about the artists 8.2 Thumbnail image of artist with name below the image, both are clickable to reach the artists page.
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Web Site
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logo
Locations
About
Play
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Events
News
Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Our Mission
9.2
First Last Name
Support
First Last Name
First Last Name
First Last Name
feature image (or live video stream)
(Slideshow of
First Last Name 9.1 Personal Site Bio
Projects
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
9. ABOUT / ARTISTS / DETAIL The default view for viewing an artist’s information when the User clicks on a thumbnail or name. The information lightboxes atop the current site.
9.3
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
Who is making these projects?
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative images projects) class. from Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Project Title Location 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Contact
9.1 as with the team members profile modules the artists contain the exact same information, photo, first name last name, and a web site link. They require no title. By default the bio appears with a terciary option to click on “projects” 9.2 By default the latest slideshow of images from the artists latest project displays to the right.
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9.3 The project title, and location as well as the amount of images in the slideshow 253
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Our Mission
mobile number or email notify me!
Team Artists
Who is making these projects?
First Last Name
First Last Name
First Last Name
First Last Name Personal Site Bio
Projects
10.1 Project name Project name Project name Project name Project name Project name Project name
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
First Last Name
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve feature image (or live video stream) the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative (Slideshow of images projects) class. from Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Project Title Location 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
10. ABOUT / ARTISTS / DETAIL / PROJECT LISTING If a User clicks on the projects button, the bio will be replaced with a listing of all PlayPhilly projects the artist has contributed. Upon clicking on the project name the User will be shown a
Contact
slideshow to the right, with an ability to click through to the projects home page (not shown, my bad)
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
11.1 Play Education
mobile number or email notify me!
Organizations
Why Play?
11.2 Green
space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
News
11.3 Title
Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Contact
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
11. PLAY The default view for when a User clicks on the “Play” main menu item. The content field to the right summarizes subsequent sub pages as well as a secondary navigation unique to the Play section.
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11.1 Section Navigation 11.2 Introductory text 11.3 Latest News headlines related to “play”
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Play Education
12.1
feature image (or live video stream)
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
12. PLAY / EDUCATION Text heavy page delineating the importance of play in everyday life through adulthood.
mobile number or email notify me!
Organizations
Why Play?
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Contact
Report Abuse
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Terms of Use
Web Site
A p p e n d i x III Social Channels
logo
Locations
About
Play
Search
Events
Support
News
Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Play Education
mobile number or email notify me!
Organizations
13.1
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
feature image (or live video stream)
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
Contact
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13. PLAY / ORGANIZATIONS Image Thumbnails with names below outlinking to their various sites.
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1 14.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14.7
14.8
About
Play
Search
Events
Support
News
Projects
Top 10 Project Proposals
Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
view all
Calendar
mobile number or email notify me!
Photo Gallery
Submissions
Upcoming Events
14.1 14.6
MONTH
DAY
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location
DAY DAY
MONTH
feature image (or live video stream)
vote to do this!
DAY
submit idea
Project Title - Artist Location
Project Title - Artist Location
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Latest Project
14.2
Project 0000 Artist: First Last Name
14.9 Rating: Comments from the field | Submit Comment
Upcoming Events
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean posuere euismod gravida. In eros tellus, molestie eget volutpat
MONTH
sit amet, ornare vitae sapien.
DAY
Mauris quam neque, varius non tincidunt sit amet, vestibulum vitae massa. Suspendisse potenti.
DAY
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location Project Title - Artist Location
Project Photos/Video
View More Photos
14.3 Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending! View All
Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Pellen-
The default view for the “Events” main menu item. The site changes from Location focus to Projects focus.
14.1 Listing of upcoming events with month, day, event title, artist , site location, ability to click through to the project page, as well as add it to your facebook events (“I’m attending”) 14.2 A set of photos from the latest project, clicks through to the Photo Gallery. 14.3 Twitter Feed
14.4 Submit Your
IDEA
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these
Contact
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
14. EVENTS / HOME
Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
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14.4 Ability for the User to submit their own site/project. 14.5 Currently the default display of projects is also a top 10 voted list, there is also an ability to view all the projects by clicking “view all” 14.6 Large image of the artists concept fills the background
Web Site
A p p e n d i x III Social Channels
logo
Locations
About
Play
Search
Events
Support
News
Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Calendar
mobile number or email notify me!
Photo Gallery
Submissions
Upcoming Events MONTH
DAY
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location
MONTH
Project Title - Artist Location
DAY DAY (google calander?)
15.1
feature image (or live video stream)
Project Title - Artist Location
DAY
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Details
I’m Attending!
Latest Project
View More Photos Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
Submit Your
IDEA
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
14.7 Vote button to allow User to add to the total vote count for the project. The higher the voting, the more likely it will get implemented. 14.8 Project details include, number of the project, artist name, locations is was implemented and date (not shown, my bad)
Contact
14.9 Rating based on User feedback (this must come from a text or mobile app) you can’t simply star it off the web site. Comments are welcome from anywhere but encouraged via a mobile app. Will be using the service PollEverywhere.com
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15. EVENTS / CALENDAR Main content area is replaced with a google calendar of events already under construction
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Calendar 16.1 16.2
mobile number or email notify me!
Photo Gallery
Submissions
Sort By: Most Recent Project Name
View Slideshow
Project Name
View Slideshow
Project Name
View Slideshow
Project Name
View Slideshow
Project Name
View Slideshow
16.3
slideshow area
feature image (or live video stream)
16.4 Contact
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
16. EVENTS / GALLERY Listing of event galleries by set. Need to determine how to best display both photo and video. As well as consider User submissions from the events. Perhaps this will be a future app discussion, but anyways‌
16.1 Filter system to sort by, most recent, alphabetical, artist 16.2 A set displays the project name and thumbnails, as well as the ability to view the set via a slideshow 16.3 Slideshow area. Small thumbnail would actually be along the bottom of the main image (not shown, my bad).
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16.4 page navigation, assuming there are lots and lots of sets. Can this be managed via flickr somehow?
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Calendar
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Photo Gallery
Submissions
17.1 Got a brilliant idea? Or a location that needs help? Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
17.2
Proposal Type Site
feature image (or live video stream)
Project What ‘s your idea?
17.3
Name
17.4 Email
17.5
Submit Your
17.6
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
17. EVENTS / SUBMISSIONS Simple form allowing Users to submit ideas.
Contact
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IDEA
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
17.1 Introductory text illustrating what we need to know from the submissions
17.5 Text Field asking for the Users email
17.2 Radial buttons asking what type of submission this is it can be either a project idea, or site to look at.
17.x Ability to upload a series of images about either the project or site
17.3 A text field that allows the User to write a description of their project 17.4 Text Field asking for the Users name
17.6 Submit button
261
A p p e n d i x III
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About
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Search
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Partners
18.1
mobile number or email notify me!
Donate
Volunteer
We are looking for a few good people
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream)
Latest Kickstarters
18.2
Project title
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with Donate
Project title
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with Donate
Proud Partner
18.3
18.4 I want to
Volunteer View All Contact
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18. SUPPORT / HOME The default view for when a User clicks on the “Support” main menu item. The content field to the right summarizes subsequent sub pages as well as a secondary navigation unique to the Support section.
18.1 Introductory text to the support section 18.2 A listing of Kickstarter loans initiated for projects in need of funding 18.3 Random Partner that is supporting us somehow with ability to view all of them 18.4 Volunteer button
Report Abuse
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logo
Locations
About
Play
Search
Events
Support
News
Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Partners
mobile number or email notify me!
Donate
Volunteer
19.1 We are looking for a few good people Org Name
Org Name
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes.
Org Name
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream) Org Name
Org Name
Org Name
Latest Kickstarters
Project title
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with Donate
Org Name
Org Name
Project title
Org Name
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with Donate
Proud Partner
I want to
Volunteer View All Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
19. SUPPORT / PARTNERS The default view for when a User clicks on the “Partners” section menu item. Partner logos fill the area to the left. The content area needs to change slightly from what is seen here. Ideally it wouldn’t have the kickstarters or
Contact
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anything below it, it should have the ability to get in touch with us about being a partner. 263
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
20.2 Project Name
Support
Project Name Donate
20.1
Project Name Donate
Project Name Donate
Project Name Donate
Project Name Donate
Project Name Donate
Project Name Donate
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
20. SUPPORT / DONATE
notify me!
Donate
Volunteer
Kickstart the Art
Green space is all well and good, but there’s a much more devious space left unattended in our cityscapes. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
feature image (or live video stream) Project Name Donate
mobile number or email
Contact
20.1 The main content area is text based talking about the kickstart process, and how each public intervention is publically funded. 20.2 This area shows a series of kickstarter links for each project with an ability to go to each project home, or to simply donate straight to it. This will more than likely take the site directly to a Kickstarter page.
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A p p e n d i x III Social Channels
logo
Locations
About
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Projects Sign up to be notified of spontaneous or planned playphily events
Partners
mobile number or email notify me!
Donate
Volunteer
21.1 Some of the best time you will ever spend Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Name feature image (or live video stream)
21.2 Email
21.3 Special Skills
21.4
Sign me up
21.5
Contact
Copyright Š 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
21. SUPPORT / VOLUNTEER
21.1 Introductory text
A simple form that allows Users to volunteer their services for a PlayPhilly event.
21.4 Text field asking if the User has any special skills, or ways in which they can contribute their time/services
Report Abuse
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21.2 Text Field reuiring the Users name 21.3 Text Field requiring the Users email
21.5 Submit button
265
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mobile number or email notify me!
Latest Headlines
22.5 Post Title
by Author on Month Day, Year
22.1
Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with read more
22.2 > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One 22.6
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
feature image (or live video stream)
> Title Long Title Really Realy Long One > Title Long Title Really Realy Long One
Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to
22.3
22.7 re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class. Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with play. Play is good for the mind, soul & well-being. Play sparks innovative thinking as well as energizing the body. Our goal is to dissolve the city mediocrity with a little help from its Users and creative class.
Read More
Word Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word CloudWord Cloud Word Cloud
Tweet Feed Grayspaces. The concrete flatlands that connect our buildings create lifeless spans that we cannot avoid. We look to re-energize these spaces through creativity with
22.4 FB Tweet Discuss
Contact
Copyright © 2011 PlayPhilly. All Rights Reserved
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22. NEWS / HOME
22.1 Latest article written features the title, small description, readmore
22.6 Photo or video associated with article
The default view for when a User clicks on the “News” main menu item. The content field to the right summarizes subsequent sub pages as well as a secondary navigation unique to the News section.
22.2 Listing of preceding articles by title
22.7 Article text
22.3 A word cloud of most tagged article subject matter 22.4 Social button, share on fb, twitter or discuss in comments 22.5 Article Title, author and date
Web Site
A p p e n d i x III
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APPENDIX IV Aerial Photography
A PPENDIX I V
LOCATION
PENN 2 PLAZA DATE
3.30 2011
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The Urban Playground Project
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DILWORTH PLAZA DATE
3.30 2011
Aerial Photography
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The Urban Playground Project
Aerial Photography
A PPENDIX I V
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A PPENDIX I V
The Urban Playground Project
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The Urban Playground Project
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The Urban Playground Project
Aerial Photography
A PPENDIX I V
LOCATION
JFK “LOVE” PARK DATE
3.30 2011
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Aerial Photography
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The Urban Playground Project
Aerial Photography
A PPENDIX I V
LOCATION
MUNICIPAL PLAZA DATE
3.29 2011
285
A PPENDIX I V
The Urban Playground Project
Aerial Photography
A PPENDIX I V
LOCATION
CITY HALL DATE
3.04 2011
287
Not too shabby Kris.
Nice job partner
BIBLIO GRAPHY Administration, P. T. G. S. (2009). Achieving Great Federal Public Spaces: A Property Manager’s Guide. New York, NY, PPS. Architecture, Inc., URL: http:/www.jstor.org/stable/1425399 (Nov, 1995) Bach, Penny Balkin. Public Art in Philadelphia. Temple University Press., Funded by the William Penn Foundation. Philadelphia, (1992). Bach, Penny Balkin. “To Light up Philadelphia: Lighting, Public Art, and Public Space”., Art Journal,Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 324-330., Critical Issues in Public Art., Published by: College Art Association., URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/777017 (Winter, 1989). Berg, David N. & Smith, Kenway K. Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics; Jossy-Bass Publishers, San Francisco (1997). Brown, Stewert & Vaughan, Christopher. Play: How it shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul., Penquin Group, inc., New York, NY 2009 Burnham, S. (2010). “Urban Play.” Retrieved 11-11-2010, 2010, from http:// scottburnham.com. Crawford, Margaret. “Contesting the Public Realm: Struggles over Public Space in Los Angeles.”, Journal of Architectural Education,Vol. 49, No. 49, No. 1, pp. 4-9., Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425371 (Sep., 1995). Creative Vitality in Philadelphia: A Three-Year Index: 2006-8.: WESTAF -Western States Arts Federation., Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, City Hall Room 116., www.phila.gov/arts (2009) Dardick, Hal (January 10, 2005). “Park reflects vision still in its infancy – Upgrades for Millennium site are in the works, with more on way”. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2008. Henricks, Thomas S., (2006). Play Reconsidered:Sociological Perspectives on Human Expression. University of Illinois Press. Chicago, IL. Kirk, Brian James. Plan Philly: Philadelphia Public Art:The Full Spectrum. http://planphilly. com/publicart
Lynch, K. (1960). The Image Of The City. Cambridge Mass., The Technology Press & Harvard University Press. “Map of Millennium Park” (PDF). Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago. Retrieved August 10, 2010. Nelson, Bryn (April 15, 2008). “Green roofs popping up in big cities: Environmentally friendly industry rapidly coming into its own”. Msnbc.com. Retrieved August 10, 2010. “New city jewel invites us downtown to play”. Chicago Sun-Times. July 16, 2004. Retrieved July 25, 2008. Phillips, Patricia C. “Temporality and Public Art.” Art Journal,Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 331-335 Critical Issues in Public Art., Published by: College Art Association., URL: http://www. jstor.org/stable/777018 ( Winter, 1989). “Placemaking for Communities”. Project for Public Spaces. Web. 17 Dec. 2010. <http:// www.pps.org/articles/wwhyte/>. Spielman, Fran (December 16, 2005). “New amenities for Millennium Park?: Company proposes baby strollers, Disney training for workers”. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 1, 2008. Steuer, Gary & Penn Praxis Staff. Philadelphia Public Art:The Full Spectrum. Issuu online publishing (2008) The School of Design of University of Pennsylvania (2009) Sutton-Smith, Brian. The Ambiguity of Play., Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, (2001). “What Is Public Art?” The Fairmount Park Art Association. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. <http:// www.fpaa.org/what_is_pa.html>. Whyte, W. H. (1980). The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. New York City, New York, Project for Public Spaces.