Public Spaces are something many people walk by and don’t give a second thought about. There is the obvious larger scale public spaces like large parks, city squares and museum court yards. However, it’s the more small scale Public spaces that I wanted to try and ‘re-invent.’ I wanted to investigate this as they tend to be places where you can easily meet people but tend to overlook the area for what Its full potential.
After the initial presentation of the project I decided to analyse my initial thoughts and outline my key areas for focus. We also went out in groups and analysed public spaces around us for research, I used the knowledge I learned to gather ideas about the relevance.

Key Highlights:
– How to make a public space relevant?
– Needs to have a sense of Purpose
– Must have a positive public reaction (not a seeming waste of money)
– Modern – Smart tech??
– Follow Current Trends (Done research on Pinterest of recent public space renovations)
– Sustainable
– A lot of Push to bring in small patches of nature
– Bring life to a small space (Make it seem larger)
-Social/ Loneliness aspect
– Consensus that the modern digital age is creating a ‘fake social life’
– A loneliness epidemic because of it – People can be excluded
– Two routes to approach the problem
– Create something that restricts phone use – Seems forceful
-Use people and their technology to bring them together and promote conversation.

From this I created a miniature Specification of my personal focuses:
– Need to make something Relevant
– Needs to be worthwhile to the public
– Needs to follow trends with a focus on Sustainability
– Want to bring people together using their technology less forceful approach

Relevance:
I wrote an essay two years ago about art installation in public spaces and decided to look back at it for research. (essay will be linked at the end). One of the highlighting factors was the down fall of Molendiner and Spire parks. This was part of a regeneration project of a deprived area of Glasgow, the park was designed as an art instillation that could be used in several ways – skate park, benches. It was supposed to be adopted by the community but instead there was major public resentment to it, considered a waste of money and in the long run was only taken over by the violence in the area and only served as a reminder of the deprivation and crime in the area.
I feel like you must provide something useful in order to combat this, the public space you design has to have a talking point and a definitive purpose. Even if people think that it is a waste of money you ideally want to design it in such a way that they will still find themselves using it.
Idea:
I want to focus on Bus stop re-design, Bus stops are something that everyone passes and at some point, will use. The bus stop I wish to re-design is on Perth road, this chosen area is large with benches. When walking by there is often one or two people sitting on it. The Bus stop is one of the few places along the road where you can sit down if need to. This could be redesigned for comfort and would also provide a good place for pensioners to rest. The Bus stop also resides near student housing and a local high school so it would also need to have an attraction to the younger generation as well.

My current idea is to design a bus shelter the incorporates Phone chargers and Public Wi-fi. When you go to log into the Public Wi-Fi it will give you the option to play a game. The scoreboard of this game will be displayed on a screen (as well as Bus times) this will provide a talking point for everyone in the bus shelter. The idea behind this is to use people and their phones to bring them together and make it an enjoyable experience. Another function of this is for safety. I help provide and safe place for people to meet and go. Someone walking back from school or a night out with no battery in their phone or no signal. This would provide a safe space to go where they know they will be able to charge their phone or get internet access and eventually get home safe hopefully.
For the aesthetic design I want to focus on using reclaimed wood since it is in trend. Want to have a slight geometric look as well as plenty of greenery to bring some colour to the area.

To begin my design I took pictures of my chosen area, I then done a simple block sketch and highlighted problems that I had with the area.

Highlighted problems:
– Benches are too far apart
– No shelter
– Bins too close to benches
– Obstructed views with large flower pots
-Needs a clear level of sight

Next I just done some basic sketches of ideas for the look going my head but felt like It would be better to explore through basic models.

After the models I had a very clear image in my head. I went and bought the materials and began to make it. I used Balsa wood strips to try and recreate the look and feel of re-claimed wood. I also used fake grass in two colours to signify the different types of flowers and grasses used to liven up the area. Over all the idea has stayed true to what I imagined. It has three low level flower pots that don’t obstruct the users eye line. It follows a modern geometric design and uses sustainable materials. The design stands out from the area and would provide a talking point. There is a screen to view the high scores of the game in the Public wi-fi zone.

Thank you for Reading.

Link to essay:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KlalJ4iXi6km2l9trrl-95IBife78_8o-q1E1r041mg/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Pinterest Board:

https://pin.it/uq2biiglk52kd2