Pocket Park
The creation of pocket parks in public spaces and vacant lots, the transformation of parking, the promotion of cycling, the utilisation of vacant lots, shops, and cellar systems, the development of new types of street furniture – these were the main ideas of the participants at the inner-Erzsébetváros public space forum organised by KÉK – the Contemporary Architecture Centre.
About fifty stakeholders and interested parties – interpreters, ruin pub operators, teachers, graphic designers, toy shop owners, council members, architects, economists, filmmakers, urban defenders, landscape architects, to name a few – gathered at the Electrotechnical Museum to initiate new ideas regarding the district's public spaces: how alternative initiatives and locally emerging public space usage needs can replace top-down planning. The examples presented revealed that the key to success in creating each pocket park always lies in capturing the spirit of the place.
The event's dramaturgy was shaped by Roland Gruber (Nonconform - Architecture on Site), an Austrian architect specialising in community planning. The architect-communicator participated in the event with the aim of sharing how public space projects are initiated in Austria with the active involvement of stakeholders. Gruber's presentation revealed that the Nonconform team always opens a temporary office at the location and organises idea collection sessions in local shops and pubs as part of a three-day, complex event, holds focus group discussions, and prepares work-in-progress visual presentations. Subsequently, the most important proposals can be synthesized and presented in an accessible format through three-dimensional photomontages, outlining several scenarios simultaneously. Such a process liberates significant local energies, the monitoring of which is supported by local media outlets in Austria, greatly contributing to the projects' progression to the implementation phase.
Participants had the opportunity to experience Nonconform's methods. As a starting point, architect Gábor Zimborás gave a thought-provoking presentation to introduce the topic of pocket parks. The presentation primarily focused on how alternative initiatives and locally emerging public space usage needs can replace top-down planning. The examples presented revealed that the key to success in creating each pocket park always lies in capturing the spirit of the place. Among local alternative initiatives mentioned were the Gang Team, which transforms corridor courtyards into gardens, the PARKing movement, which turns parking spaces into public spaces for a day, and the increasingly visible guerrilla gardening across the city. Discussions also included the city gardening and agriculture trends that began in New York in the 1970s, as well as the most important possibilities and conditions for creating pocket parks.
Organisers: Noémi Soltész, Gábor Zimborás
