On September 16th, design firms throughout the county sought out parking spots to transform into pop up parklets for the day in an effort to bring awareness to the need for more urban-oriented park space. ASLA Chapters and their firms were given an opportunity to advocate ASLA’s Park(ing) Day initiative and the profession as curious bystanders wandered into the pop-up park space throughout the day. The impact of a green park in the midst of asphalt was well received by all and with astoundingly positive feedback, the Southern California chapter’s initiatives were a resounding success throughout the communities that participated – and the only complaint was that the park was only intended to stay for the day.
Those participating firms included:
Los Angeles firm, Melendrez, describing their Parking Day Space as “Transforming DTLA one patch at a time.”
Los Angeles firm, “Nava“, describing their Parking Day space as “An exploration in urban stormwater mitigation through biofiltration”
Corona based firm, BMLA, Inc.
Founded in 2005, PARK(ing) Day is a global, open-sourced event where designers transform metered parking spaces into temporary, miniature parks or parklets. “PARK(ing) Day showcases how landscape architects design areas as small as a parking spot to bring people together and demonstrate the value of public space,” said Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, ASLA Executive Vice President and CEO of ASLA.
