Stuckeman School Students Celebrate "PARK(ing) Day"
On September 16, in central Pennsylvania and throughout the world, artists, activists, and citizens will turn concrete into green space as part of an annual event called “PARK(ing) Day.”
Here in State College, students from Penn State’s H. Campbell and Eleanor R. Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture will create their own version of PARK(ing) Day, inspiring citizens to linger outside and imagine a world a little less reliant on the automobile.
Stuckeman School students will transform three downtown parking spaces into public spaces as part of a Park(ing) Day design competition. Under the instruction of Stuckeman School Professors Sean Burkholder and Jodi La Coe, three student teams will design “parks” to be evaluated on creativity, construction, and plans for recycling the project’s materials. The Stuckeman School invites YOU— State College residents and Penn State students—to participate in the judging. Students will report to their respective parking spaces at 6 a.m. and finish installing their designs by 8 a.m. Visit the space at the corner of Allen and Beaver, in front of Bill Pickle’s Tap Room at 106 South Allen Street, for a map to direct you to the other two locations. The event will be held rain or shine.
Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement and case study in the civic benefit of social media. In 2010 PARK(ing) Day included more than 800 “PARK” installations in more than 180 cities in 30 countries on six continents. To track this year’s events around the globe, follow @parkingday on Twitter or go to www.parkingday.org.
Originally conceived in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink how strreets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel, and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The planning strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the urban landscape.”
PARK(ing) Day is an “open-source” user-generated event created by independent groups around the globe who adapt the project to champion creative, social, or political causes relevant to their local urban conditions.
The State College PARK(ing) Day competition is made possible through a generous grant from the Stuckeman Endowment and assistance from the Landscape Architecture Student Society (LASS). We would also like to thank everyone who donated materials and labor to the projects. More acknowldegments will be made at the indiviual parks.
