WOOHOOOO!!!!!!!
I'm extremely excited to announce that I will be a part of the design/construction crew for the "Pavement to Parks" project in front of Mojo Cafe, on Divisadero and Hayes streets!!
Renderings by the Architecture Firm, RG-Architecture, SFConstruction starts Sunday in order for this to be a partially pre-fab project. Holla if you're interested in joining - we can always use more hands to help! Just contact me for more info at: nikkilyy (at) gmail (dot) com
My Take:
As an architectural intern deeply interested in social and cultural factors of design, I have nothing but whole-hearted support for this movement.
Though San Franciscans are very forward thinking and are definitely making moves that are both great and green, I often find that our efforts are falling short those in places like New York and Portland, not to mention Stokholm or Amsterdam..
The Pavement to Parks project is one which utilizes sensible and sensitive design in order to find a design solution through architecture that takes space and place into consideration to better the lives of folks fortunate enough to find themselves on a pavement-park.
I'm attracted to the simple, streamlined, multipliable and extendable design, and believe that the site was extremely well chosen. The Divisadero and
The sidewalk addition will be a great asset to the local economy and helps us as a city - one community at a time - move towards larger greenification efforts in
Thank you, San Francisco and RG - Architecture, for making this possible, and giving me the opportunity to become involved in this project.
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http://sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org/ says:
PAVEMENT TO PARKS, SF:
ABOUT:
Background
San Francisco ’s streets and public rights-of-way make up fully 25% of the city’s land area, more space even than is found in all of the city’s parks. Many of our streets are excessively wide and contain large zones of wasted space, especially at intersections. San Francisco’s new “Pavement to Parks” projects seek to temporarily reclaim these unused swathes and quickly and inexpensively turn them into new public plazas and parks. During the temporary closure, the success of these plazas will be evaluated to understand what adjustments need to be made in the short term, and ultimately, whether the temporary closure should be a long term community investment.
Precedent
San Francisco’s Pavement to Parks projects are inspired by the recent success of similar projects in New York City - where plazas and seating areas have been created in excess roadway simply by painting or treating the asphalt, placing protective barriers along the periphery, and installing moveable tables and chairs. Streets such as Broadway have been transformed into much more inviting and pedestrian-friendly spaces through New York’s efforts.
Design
Each Pavement to Parks project is intended to be a public laboratory where the City can work with the community to test the potential of the selected location to be permanently reclaimed as public open space. Materials and design interventions are meant to be temporary and easily moveable should design changes be desired during the trial-run. Seating, landscaping, and treatment of the asphalt will be common features of all projects.
Location Selection
Locations for Pavement to Parks projects are selected based on the following criteria:
- Sizeable area of under-utilized roadway
- Lack of public space in the surrounding neighborhood
- Pre-existing community support for public space at the location
- Potential to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety via redesign
- Surrounding uses that can attract people to the space
- Identified community or business steward
Built Examples:
17th and Castro "Castro Commons"
Resources:
1. http://rg-architecture.com/rg-architecture-site/home.html
2. http://sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org/index.htm
3. http://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/02/16/san-francisco-takes-parking-spaces-for-trial-sidewalk-extensions/comment-page-1/#comment-151791
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