New Ideas For Parking Spots

You all know PARK(ing) Day, the annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks. “But why only parks?” the people of Berlin-based Stiftung Freizeit must have asked themselves. Their Labplatz project explores new ideas and concepts for temporary occupation of parking spots in the city.

Seeing the street as a communication platform, the architects of Stiftung Freizeit want to open spaces for action, participation and exchange. In collaboration with the BMW Guggenheim Lab, currently located in Berlin, the collective organized one day of transformation of car parking spaces in Prenzlauer Berg into spaces for everyone. The results are pretty diverse, ranging from swimming pools to pop-up dance floors and a power-nap space (my personal favorite).

The statement the Labplatz project wants to make here has obviously to do with reclaiming public space from cars. Nevertheless, you can ask yourself the question whether a parking spot is the best place for a dance floor or children’s swimming pool…

Related Insights

Elephant paths on Michigan State University's campus

How Elephant Paths Created a Better Public Space at Michigan State University’s Campus

Public space designers on the new campus of Michigan State University intentionally allowed spontaneous elephant paths to emerge in order to create a pedestrian infrastructure that's much more logical and human-centered.

République des Hyper-Voisins

‘Super Neighbours’ Bring Village Feel to Paris Streets

According to Patrick Bernard, an urban neighbourhood doesn't have to be unfriendly or anonymous at all. Together with his fellow 'super neighbours', he aims to bring the conviviality of a village to the streets of Paris.

Bieno Prague

Why Shared Public Space Is More Important Than Ever

Until not so long ago, conceiving and creating public space seemed the exclusive domain of governments and designers. Nowadays, they must increasingly take into account citizens, who long for more control over their living environment. Why is this an important development?