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designing human environments

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The Play Station on Market Street

For a few days in October, Market Street got a little friendlier, a little more colorful, and a little more fun. The Play Station was live on the sidewalk, next to a bus stop just down the block from Powell Street. Our team was selected to join the Market Street Prototyping Festival, with support from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the SF Planning Department.  

Thousands of passersby from all walks of life stopped to interact with our kinetic bike sculptures or to take a spin on one of our three free public exercise bikes. Above, a young girl spins the hand-cranked LED bicycle wheel featuring a programmable LED light display from Berkeley’s own MonkeyLectric. 

We were fortunate to have wonderful weather for the entire installation. Here, visitors take the bikes for a spin, and the last rider plays a game of “Newspaper Delivery”. The game, a simple toss game designed by team mate Ivan Rodriguez, was a crowd pleaser as visitors got competitive about slinging the newspapers into a faux windowbox from the bike. 

A young visitor checks out one of the zoetropes designed by team mate Michael Huang, a popular attraction we placed to create a “soft edge” to our installation and draw people’s attention and interaction. Visitors could even draw their own zoetrope design on receipt paper. The zoetropes are mounted on bike wheels. 

The overhead canopy I designed from 4-way stretch mesh had the unexpected effect of creating dappled light and shade (we didn’t expect much sun), hung on a structure designed by team mate David Yao. It also achieved my personal aim of creating a sense of color and inviting space on drab Market Street. 

The whole design team. Not pictured - friends and significant others who helped load, carry, shop, paint, install, and volunteer on the festival days! We’ll share more insights shortly - data collection led by team mate Deland Chan will reveal more insights on how many visitors we had, how many interacted with various parts of The Play Station, and what their thoughts were about public space and Market Street. 

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The Play Station SF is coming!

This weekend, my team tested concepts for our upcoming installation, “The Play Station SF”, soon to be a temporary part of the Market Street sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. 

We tested interactive kinetic bike sculptures, this one hand cranked and featuring a MonkeyLight Pro 256-LED wheel installation. 

We also played with a teammate’s last minute fun addition - two hand made zoetropes created on horizontal spinning bike wheels. 

There will also be a kinetic bike sculpture created from corrugated hose, to add a sound element. 

A fun canopy to create color and a sense of place . .  

And three spin bikes with a box full of games and challenges to play on them!

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“Present Ground” now open at Hayes Valley Art Works

Site-specific art installations by local artists are now live at “Present Ground”, a collection sited at Hayes Valley Art Works from Oct 1- Nov 5. Visit the site from Fri-Mon 12p-5p at the corner of Fell and Laguna Streets. 

I spent one very busy week busily prototyping my piece, OPEN/OPEN. From Lowe’s runs to geometry sessions, to midnight tests in the alleyway outside, it wasn’t clear if the piece would actually work onsite. 

Construction was designed with outdoor use in mind - including a strong wind.

I learned the challenges of trying to construct a piece of public art in a tiny one-bedroom apartment with not outdoor space. It just doesn’t work. Not only was it impossible to lay out the fabric pieces, we ended up performing some dangerous moves to drill the holes (and hopefully, managed to clean up all the metal filing before the next bath). 

Collaborator Josh was on hand for a very, very hot installation day. Here, we test tensioning the piece. I intended it to be installed at a slant, but higher up. The natural bowing of the nylon webbing over 20 feet made the piece sag more than intended. The manpower you see here was sufficient to tension the piece, but attaching it to the 10-foot EMT conduit pipe caused the pipe to bow, so we decided not to tension it further. 

Here I am “interacting” with my piece. 

As intended, it looks cool in the wind. 

Poke around the construction site to find other unique installations . . like “The Hole To Bury Your Emotions In” 

. . . and a honeybear. 

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OPEN / OPEN

I’m currently hard at work on team urban design The Play Station SF, going live on downtown San Francisco’s Market Street October 6-8. 

Now, I’m busy testing materials for another project that has just been confirmed! I’ve been selected to install a site-specific piece at an upcoming show entitled “Present Ground”, hosted by Hayes Valley Art Works. 

The Art Works is a community art space located in SF’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, and aims to activate an empty construction lot behind a condo development (which was recently constructed over the former Hayes Valley Farm site). HVAW is a temporary space in this city of development, and true to its nature, all of the artworks installed will also be temporary.

On view Oct 1-Nov 5, my installation “OPEN/OPEN” comprises an overhead kinetic fabric piece that simultaneously attracts attention visually, while also delineating space in an unprogrammed site and blocking unrestricted peering inward to the site by neighbors and pedestrians. 

Construction materials are nylon cordura, webbing, swivel bolds, and EMT conduit pipe. 

The public opening for “Present Ground” will take place at Hayes Valley Art Works at Laguna and Fell Streets on October 1 from 4-7 PM. 

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The Play Station SF

Keep your eyes peeled for a new outdoor fitness and play installation that will be popping up on the sidewalk of Market Street in downtown San Francisco this fall. I’m part of the team behind “The Play Station”, a concept proposal that was accepted by the Yerba Buena Center for The Arts and the San Francisco Planning Department to be part of this year’s Market Street Prototyping Festival. 

Our team has been engaged in a brainstorming and concept development process for the past couple months and we’re excited to share our project progress with you: 

Play is for everyone. But there’s really nowhere to play on Market Street. Thousands of people will walk by this spot or wait for the bus - but they won’t play. Step into The Play Station and experience Market Street in more fun way. Placing free, public workout equipment in a public space is a radical way to invite everyone to workout, play, and feel good - right on a city sidewalk. Community starts with a shared experience. The Play Station invites anyone to look up, get curious, and start playing. Don’t just wait - play. How far can you go while you wait for the bus?

After researching current challenges and needs on Market Street (above, a visual of a typical bus stop), we’ve recently moved from concept development to prototyping some of the moving parts. 

Team Play Station recently had the opportunity to get feedback from the public at an open house along with other artists and designers. We debuted our kinetic hand-cranked bicycle sculpture prototype, complete with installation of a 256-LED programmable Monkeylight PRO donated by our new friends, local business, and bike fun advocates Monkeylectric over in Berkeley. 

Stay up to date on our progress by following #mspf and #playstationsf and by adding your name to our email list over at www.theplaystationsf.com -- or come find us October 6-8 on Market Street between Ellis and O’Farrell Streets! We’re open to collaboration (activities, games, cyclecomputers and more), participation (lead a game or activity during the festival) or feedback (how to make our installation safer and more interactive), so please get in touch. 

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Playland at 43rd - A Brand New SF Park(ing) Lot Playspace

Neighbors, designers, and families teamed to create a low-cost, low-intervention flexible play and gathering space in what was formerly a very large asphalt-paved school parking lot in San Francisco’s Sunset District. 

Even on a wet, cloudy day, these photos clearly show the effort made to create a bright, colorful, welcoming space. Overhead nylon paracord delineates a pingpong table and outdoor seating, and colorful painted murals break up the asphalt surfacing. 

A newly built plot of raised beds freshly planted with greens frames the new skate park, in the back, with the magenta spires of two climbable “San Francisco Hills” donated by participants in last year’s Market Street Prototyping Festival. 

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Green Alleys Pop-Up Class

i recently had the opportunity to engage with stanford d.school again, pitching in on a fun “pop up class” which took place in a set of alleys between San Francisco’s Noe and Mission districts. the class, which invited a multi-disciplinary group of students to participate, along with neighbors and city officials, was designed to introduce students to new tools for observing spaces and also to learn about neighborhood-level sustainability, public space, and urban ecology efforts. 

i help the group start getting comfortable in the alley space, and get to know one another, with a fun interactive game of “walking tag” (more difficult than it sounds!), then d.school teaching fellows hannah and nihir led the group on to the main part of the day - observation in the alleys. the group was generously hosted by neighbors on the alley, who are active participants in the neighborhood’s “green alleys” action plan to improve the environmental sustainability and community resiliency of their little corner of San Francisco.

the workshop participants broke into groups based on different “lenses”, including: stormwater management, culture and politics, and stewardship. each group took a walk throughout the mapped areas, noticing (and noting) elements that stood out to them within a particular lens, such as drainpipes that dumped directly onto pavement, murals, native plants, unmaintained property, seating, color, and scent. 

concluding the workshop, students marked areas of particular interest, success, or future improvement on a large map of the area, and shared back what they learned about neighborhood and community work, environmental sustainability, and design thinking. 

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Palm Springs

we had a fun visit to palm springs recently, but its clearly not a place designed for people. between the multiple lane, high speed, one-way roads, the “disappearing sidewalks”, the lack of crosswalks, and the heat (at least part of the year . . . so what’s wrong with the rest of the year?), its not a place I’d probably choose to spend a lot of time. after a brief and somewhat disappointingly deserted foray to downtown, and a short (>5 block) walk to a nearby attraction -- of which only 20% of the walk involved sidewalks, crosswalks, or any pedestrian infrastructure whatsover (and no crosswalks or intersections anywhere near the attraction....what?) and during which we saw zero other people walking or outdoors at all -- we ended up just sequestering ourselves at the hotel and pool. which was great! but we didn’t need to travel 9 hours for that. we also took a short, strange, moderately fun bike ride to the museum of art, on the “Designated Bike Route” which basically was just the road on the edge of town, where the valley hits the mountains and there’s not much development (or destinations....to bike to?) then on to the museum, where we were also the only bikes in the rack. 

its interesting, wierd, and frustrating, to spend time in a town built almost exclusively to rely on the automobile as a planning and transportation device, from the heyday of the first zenith of auto culture. (is today one? i suppose it is, functionally, but maybe not culturally?) the last photo, above, shows how even driving into a vacation a Polynesian-themed motel was set up to give the best possible experience to drivers, as they entered through a dramatic gate. 

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Students displaying their prototypes for a better urban future at the Stanford Global Cities 2016 Conference. Top: WePlay piezoelectric urban playgrounds; Bottom Left: Composting toilets for cities like SF that sorely lack access; Bottom Right: ArtsUp, pop-up performing arts events in unconventional or free venues. 

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happy easter from joshua tree

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awkward spaces: makeshop

A before-and-after shot: from strange concrete “appendage” to “red carpet”.

A few notes from the “Awkward Spaces Makeshop” with the Stanford d.school, where interdisciplinary teams each performed a quick makeover prototype on an “awkward space” of their choosing on campus. With only a few hours and limited materials, speed and creativity were valued over perfection. 

We started off by exploring a small part of the campus and identifying “awkward” spots - be they awkward because of social interaction, design, spatial relationships, or use over time. 

This table, for example, was bolted onto the concrete on the upper deck of the student union. Not only is the table - and its chairs - fixed and immovable (limiting social interaction), its also placed by itself (away from the other seating), in a corner (that catches all the sun), unshaded, and wedged in between two plate glass windows that look into office areas (awkward privacy issues). What’s more, the door behind the furthest chair can’t open all the way without hitting the seat (remember - its bolted in place). I can’t imagine anyone loving this awkward seating arrangement. 

Next, the group shared back their awkward spaces and chose teams to work on a particular spot for the rest of the day. We chose this concrete “appendage” awkwardly and unattractively protruding from a stairway directly in front of the main entrance to a music hall. With no clear function - or even aesthetic decoration - this flat topped “podium” seemed ripe for an intervention. 

This shot contextualizes the “appendage”, showing how its also centered in a pretty generic, colorless, hardscaped setting. Pedestrians and cyclists pass right by it (foreground) on a busy path, without being invited into the space for any conceivable reason. 

With only four hours to come up with an idea, build it, and install it, our team quickly started throwing out ideas about how we could make the space less awkward. We discussed how different interventions could “highlight” the awkwardness (by making it stand out even more or even leveraging it), or “hiding” the awkwardness (by reconfiguring a space or how its used). We opted to highlight the appendage, and to actually use it as a centerpiece or stage. With the Oscars scheduled to air that evening, and the appendage’s location in front of a performance space, we came up with the idea of creating a  faux “red carpet” VIP area on the concrete platform, complete with photo backdrop for the Stanford community to shoot selfies. 

Without a measuring tape, we made some quick guesses (using sneaker measurements) about the dimensions, then headed back to the d.school workshop to start building our prototype. 

Part of our team got to work on building a frame for the backdrop. 

Part of our team started creating on-brand Stanford imagery for the backdrop, adding additional colors to brighten up the drab concrete space. 

A canvas dropcloth formed the backdrop, and construction paper and masking tape stood in for stencilled logos. 

With time running out until the end of the workshop (and the day!), the team setup the backdrop using zipties. 

Blue butcher paper stood in for a red carpet, and a pallet made a step. 

Since the space was awkward, we called our intervention the “Awkward Oscars”, complete with an awkward fake Oscar make from tinfoil to hold up .

The photo backdrop in use. 

Selfie station complete with hand held sign, and awkward, tilted tree. 

Much more colorful and fun than before! 

Fellow team members creating a wayfinding sign that corrected an unused and unloved “awkward understairs” space, and simultaneously worked to help confused new students find a student ID office (confusingly and awkwardly located on a second floor midcentury building with only two outdoors staircases to locate). 

A third team worked to “un-awkward” an unloved and underused seating area outside the student union hall, with a few strange seating arrangements (including a table with no chairs), dirt for ground cover, and a pile of trash behind both sides. 

The team created a “sculpture garden” by creating a prototype modern art sculpture on a table, and added a simple screen as a backdrop to make the space feel more intimate and block trash from view. 

Thanks Our City, d.school, and the teaching fellows!

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Make A Gorgeous Feathery Lantern From Yogurt Cups

Whether you’re looking for a last-minute gift idea or just feeling crafty, this fun, glowing lantern is an ideal DIY project that will bring a little brightness into your space this Winter Solstice week.

All you’ll need is a few cleaned plastic yogurt cups in addition to a plastic water or soda bottle. Easy! Dig through your recycling bin and you’re halfway there.

Cut randomly-sized triangles from the yogurt cups and glue them in concentric rings around the plastic bottle (with the bottom and top of the bottle snipped off).

Let the glue dry, add a pendant lamp socket and a low-watt LED bulb and enjoy the glow!

For the full tutorial, head on over to my Inhabitat piece.

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Thanksgiving DIY: Watercolor Feathers

I made a fun little decoration yesterday - a garland of fluttering paper feathers made from recycled magazine pages and decorated with a bright watercolor wash. Its a Thanksgiving decoration that veers away from the traditional brown and orange palette, and you can give it a try by following along:

Step One: Find recycled magazines or other papers printed on a white background. Then create a feather shape template - I used two different shapes. Accordion-fold the paper and snip out a handful of feathers. Repeat until you’ve got at least 15-20. 

Step Two: Get out your watercolors (I used gouache). Mix up some very watery colors, and brush them across the feathers. Make sure you’re painting on top of something you don’t mind getting stained. I used at least two colors per feather and let the colors blend together a bit. Let dry. 

Step Three: Snip the fringe. Stack about 4-6 feathers together, and fold lengthwise. Using scissors, snip a fringe along the edges, but do not cut all the way across. Continue snipping all the way to the base of the feather. Unfold and separate the feathers, repeating with the next set. 

Step Four: Measure of length of fishing line, and use small pieces of washi tape to attach each feather from behind. 

You can hand the garland across a doorway, in front of a window, along the edge of a table, or just drape across a centerpiece. When they hang, the feathers catch any slight breeze or movement and twirl gently.  

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kale + batting cages

Did you know that the San Francisco Giants baseball team have a lush vegetable garden growing right in the ATT Stadium? The Giants Garden serves up tasty herbs, veggies and even berries that are integrated into dishes served up by a premiere concessionaire at the stadium. 

The Garden also serves to educate guests and children’s educational programs about nutrition, urban gardening, and botany. 

I recently had the opportunity to tour the garden with the designer as part of the American Institute of Architects SF “Architecture in the City Festival”, an annual series that occurs each September. Check out a piece I wrote about it here. 

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Play in the Garden: Park(ING) Day 2015

Photo via Kerri Stimson // Yoga Garden SF

Park(ING) Day 2015 took place this past Friday, September 2015. In cities across the world, creative thinkers took part in this DIY celebration of rethinking public space. Park(ING) Day was originally dreamed up by local design collective REBAR back in 2005, when they created a “temporary public park” by rolling out a piece of astroturf and a couple chairs in a metered parking space in downtown San Francisco. 

Today, Park(ING) Day has become a global event where citizens, artists, designers, and activists collaborate to temporarily transform a metered streetside parking space into a fun and enjoyable public space, helping neighbors and cities re-imagine how we allocate space in urban environments.  

Every year, I’m inspired by the fun takes on Park(ING) Day around the city, so this year I decided it was time to participate. I teamed with yoga studio Yoga Garden SF and coffeeshop Repose Coffee to create a fun, temporary relaxation and play space on the busy Divisadero corridor in San Francisco. We invited neighbors to “Come Play in the Garden”. 

Photo by Kerri Stimson // Yoga Garden SF

For three hours, a boring old metered parking space was transformed into a sunny, welcoming, space for conversation over a cup of coffee and playful yoga poses. 

Friends, alumni, and teachers at Yoga Garden stopped by to teach students and passersby a few poses, including Boxing Yoga (above). 

Drivers were surprised to see people doing acrobatic poses as they sat stopped at the traffic light. 

Photo by Joy Liu Yoga

The novelty of the space and the location really inspired people to have fun with it. The unexpected nature of parklets, Park(ING) Day, and urban interventions allows people to see space in a different way. Its amazing how simply putting down a couple rugs, benches, and potted houseplants (which took all of ten minutes), completely changed the vibe and the use of the 17 foot space. 

Yoga Garden owner Marisa stopped in to perfect her headstand. 

Photo via Joy Liu Yoga

The sunny weather inspired visitors to get creative with their postures. 

We made sure to pay for our “space rental” at the parking meter. 

Photo via Kerri Stimson // Yoga Garden SFAgainst my expectations, no one complained about our fun temporary parklet, and in fact we had plenty of interested passersby asking about the initiative. My favorite visit of the day was the SFMTA parking control officer in his little 3-wheeled cart who stopped by to chat. I was concerned that he would ask us to move, but he had heard about Park(ING) Day already and was just stopping by to say hi and check it out. Check out other parklets from around the world from this year’s event here. 

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sunday streets western addition #panhandle #sundaystreets #sf #ciclovia #victorian #citiesareforpeople #myopenstreets @armellepin

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Perfection. Northerly.