Weinland Park is a neighorhood near The Ohio State University and it holds a diverse range of residents and it is a historic and important neighborhood in the Central Columbus area. In this project, Peter Maczuzak, Sharon Longdong, and I were tasked with creating a design that increased playfulness and community in Weiland Park while also keeping the spirit of the place. We aspired to design with the community and find a way for residents to create their own identity. To do this, we used the exisiting architecture of a chain-link fence within Weiland Park and creating an interactive mural along with life-sized interactive games. These murals and games set out to create a sense of social connection and belonging in Weinland Park.
The Location - Weinland Park
To begin our process, we first visited the park and reflected on the use and spirit of it. We determined that the park is a place where kids and adults alike in the community come together and we wanted to make that even stronger in our design. We also learned that there is an elementary school that uses the park every single school day for recess and learning. In this reflection, we determined that we needed a tool to bring all ages together while also still holding the integrity of the neighborhood.
Ideation
To begin our ideation, we focused on the 4 layers of place (physical, time, mood, and spirit) as listed and described in Christopher Day's Consensus Design. By researching into the different areas of the park as well as the history, we were able to combine our thoughts from the visit into a complete picture of the park in which we began our brainstorming. After listing ideas, we liked the chain link fence inserts and brainstormed ideas that could be incorporated into it.
Prototyping
Our main focus while prototyping was finding a form that fit into most of the chain link fence holes as they were varying sizes. This was one of our first attempts that was 3D printed and we found that four touch points was too many and that a simple two touchpoint piece would work much better.
Fence Layout
To begin finalizing our concept, we delve into creating a use for every panel on the fence. Our main focuses were creating games that everyone is familiar with, creating games for all age ranges, and ensuring social interaction with games that require multiple people. In addition to this, we kept the games that children are more likely to play closer to the school and away from the road to account for safety. In addition to this, we kept the mural on the side where the road and sidewalk are to allow for more foot traffic and showing off of the community mural. This mural contains multiple whiteboards/chalkboards for people to come up and use freely, creating an ever dynamic and changing symbol of the neighborhood.
Final Prototype and Concept
Sources
Images:
https://foursquare.com/v/weinland-park-playground/4fd3b714e4b0a1f006e09ab5
3D Models:
https://grabcad.com/library/chain-link-fence-3
https://grabcad.com/library/jigsaw-puzzle-2