NY Tries to Think Outside the Sandbox

Interesting article in the NY Times on the subject of playground design and use. It would be good for citation in grant writing!

December 6th, 2006

The discussion at this meeting focused on ways to involve the school community and the neighborhood community in the design process to gain momentum and exposure for the project, which would in turn help with fundraising.

We discussed hosting a community "charette," which would bring together design professionals, students and community members in a celebratory day of brainstorming, drafting and presenting design possibilities to the school. The charette would be an excellent way to involve the community, link the project with architects and designers and generate enthusiasm for the renovation. We decided that we would research the process and follow up with contacts at Pratt, Center for Architecture Foundation, and the Design Collective Studio.

Committee members also suggested that the charette might be a culminating event after a series of smaller awareness and fundraising activities. Among the ideas was a neighborhood "playdate" at PS 9 and a community soccer game.

PS 9 is also planning a fundraiser called "Taste of Prospect Heights" and a committee member suggested that the Playground Committee might support that fundraiser as a way to combine/maximize resources.

The next meeting is set for Wednesday, January 3rd at 6:30pm.

November 8th, 2006

At this meeting the Committee discussed two existing programs in New York City that match chosen schools with playground designers and financial sponsors for the renovation process:

• City Spaces - of the Trust for Public Land (TLP) . This program emphasizes student participation in the design process.
• Out2Play - Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz has already sent a letter of support for PS 9 to this program.

The committee would like to see the design of the playground built from the grassroots in order to meet the needs of the entire PS 9 community, especially its students. Two committee members volunteered to develop and distribute a survey form to begin to cull ideas and peak community interest.

Architect Illya Azaroff volunteered to lead the committee in fleshing out what the playground’s initial design vision might be, which would be useful for fundraising purposes. It was also suggested that Mr. Azaroff might offer the project as part of a classroom curriculum at Pratt’s design school.

• Meetings will take place on the first Wednesday of every month at 6:30pm.
• NEXT MEETING: 6:30PM on Wednesday, December 6.