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A Public Library's Outdoor Potential | Placemaking Round-Up

Posted May 8, 2022 - 08:50

This round-up from the Project for Public Spaces connects people who share a passion for public spaces to ideas and issues, news, quotes, places, and events from the placemaking movement.

Extending Library Resources Outdoors
Kids having a great time with the new Imagination Playground set. Photo credit: Fulton County Library System
This spring, we celebrated the launch of our newest placemaking project—the All Access Library at the Fulton County Library System's Central Library in the state of Georgia.

Thanks to a grant from CloroxPro, a company committed to public health, we were able to co-imagine and design a mobile library environment with seats, games, and more that could easily transform outdoor areas—at local library branches, museums, plazas, and more—into great public spaces. Read more.
 

Recent Blog Posts
Announcing New Co-Executive Directors Kelly Verel & Nate Storring
March 27, 2021

A (Market) Place for Everyone
February 22, 2022 • by Priscilla Posada

Thinking Beyond the Parks Department: A Q&A with Javier Otero Peña
January 14, 2022 • by Priscilla Posada
 

Events & Opportunities
May 18, 2:30-4p EDT • Embedding Equity in Public Space:
The Community First Toolkit Launch, Urban Institute

May 23-24, 10-5pm EDT • Placemaking in Small & Rural Communities Online Conference, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Now through June 30 • Apply for the 2023-2025 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards, Levitt Foundation

Have an event or opportunity you would like to share? Email us at [email protected].
 

Public Space News
Placemaking in Buffalo! It's no secret we love Buffalo, New York—we're currently working on three Community Placemaking Grants projects there—and see tremendous potential for public spaces in the city.

It was an honor to collaborate with Savarino to conduct community engagement for the redevelopment of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal. Now, the recent state budget has allocated $30million toward making the project possible. (Buffalo News)

Designing Spaces for Social Service Provision. In a recent op-ed, Ishita Gaur, a designer and planner, explores ways of creating spaces that overcome challenges to accessing social services such as stigma and spatial considerations. For example, New York City has a wide network of public libraries, recreation centers, and even grocery stores—what if nooks within these spaces were staffed with social workers to help people in need find housing and more?

We've incorporated place-based social service provision in our work at Woodruff Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and look forward to seeing more innovation in this space. (The Architect's Newspaper)

A Warehouse for Artists. The Madjax Maker Force is a 80,000-square-foot warehouse in Muncie, Indiana that houses everything from Ball State classes to community meetings and creative local businesses. We're proud that Jane Ellery, one of the people who helped make this possible, is a Project for Public Spaces alum. The Ball State assistant professor joined us in 2017 for her sabbatical to learn how to maximize the potential of the space through placemaking. (Ball State Daily).
 

Placemaking Playbook
As always, here's a roundup of placemaking projects and ideas that inspired us this week:

  • An open street in Queens, NYC moves toward becoming a permanent linear park (Streetsblog NYC)
  • A 1.3-mile public arts corridor in Los Angeles to celebrate Black culture (Next City)
  • A place-based approach to reducing gun violence (Brookings Institute)
  • How to make walkability metrics more inclusive (Streetsblog USA)
  • Study finds asphalt art can reduce crashes (Streetsblog USA)
  • Learn about the iconic landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted (Inverse)

Copyright © 2022 Project for Public Spaces, All rights reserved.

 

 

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