Park(ing) Day September 17, 2010 - Moss Design Expands Temporary Green Oasis To Encompass City Block

Sept. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Moss, a sustainable architecture studio in Chicago, Illinois, is participating in PARK(ing) Day on September 17, 2010 from 9AM to 4PM.  The designed “PARK(ing) spaces”, metered parking spaces converted into temporary green parks, will be located along the entire block on Southport Avenue, from Addison to Eddy.  The converted parking spots will begin in front of Southport Grocery, 3552 North Southport, and Uncle Dan’s at 3551 North Southport.  

PARK(ing) Day is a one-day, global exploration of the creative potential of streets that promotes the need for more parks by converting public parking spots into temporary parks for a day—a ‘re-imagining’ of a public space.  Artists and citizens work together to transform metered parking spots into green spaces: temporary public parks for all to enjoy.  The annual event was originally created in 2005 by Rebar, an art collective, in San Francisco, California.  

In 2009, Moss converted three spaces and in 2010 they will expand the event to a block-long park on both sides of Southport Avenue.  The PARK(ing) Day theme is a “Bicycle Refueling Station” featuring free food, live music, bike parking, and relaxation areas.  With a higher percentage of street space currently allocated to vehicles and gas stations, and only a fraction allocated to the public realm, the bike refueling station is the bicyclist’s non-gas, rest stop.  Moss will “lease” the entire block of parking spaces for the day and convert them into a bike and pedestrian friendly oasis.  The oasis will be complete with trees, shrubs, and green sod, donated by Grand Street Gardens and Lake Street Landscape Supply.  The oasis relaxation stations provides a respite where weary bikers can kick-back and enjoy a cold beverage and a snack, provided by Southport Grocery, lounge on hammocks supplied by Uncle Dan’s Outdoor Store, and enjoy live music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyCsheIcDqw  



The concept of PARK(ing) Day is based on the idea that putting money into a parking meter one is “renting” urban public space.  The range of possibilities for the short-term lease of the metered parking space is limitless.  The thought process of Moss is, what if, tomorrow, there were no more cars on the road; what would we imagine the street parking spaces to be?  This sparked the teams’ imagination, and being active bikers and stewards of the environment,  their goal was to create a usable, temporary park; a park that bikers riding along the Southport bike lane could turn into, refuel, and relax.  

National Park(ing) Day has grown from one metered parking space in San Francisco in 2005 to over 60 participating cities this year, including parks in Lincoln Square and Streeterville.  It is an act of playful, generous activism and is strictly a non-commercial enterprise.

For more information on Moss Design visit: www.moss-design.com,

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moss is a LEED accredited architectural studio committed to client partnership and satisfaction through communication and design excellence. Our mission is to create quality designs that take environmental surroundings into consideration.