Oasis at Main Street

Oct 1

Modular parkettes to invite people to the outdoors

By: Philip Tan Architects

The COVID lockdown has impacted street life. People resist going out. As the pandemic continues, we need to find ways to rejuvenate the streets without fear of contamination. We want to invite people to come outdoors safely. People today leave their homes anxiously, then hurriedly get back into their cars and drive straight home. There's just point A and Z.

There's no in-between.We propose a prototype parkette within any city block to accommodate safe outdoor interaction. Individual seats are provided and arranged to allow distancing. These seats can be adjusted to varying heights to cater to adults and children. Bicycle racks are built into the installation. The parkette is all inclusive and invites everyone outdoors to share a story or two. The installation is designed to be modular, allowing various configurations afforded by flexible fasteners. Each parkette site will dictate the orientation, juxtaposition and overall configuration of the installation. The modules are lightweight and conveniently transportable. They are made of polyethylene and plastisol-coated steel and assembly is quick. Polyethylene is crafted from an eco-friendly, post-consumer material that can last decades exposed to the element.

We see these installations with their peculiarity catered to the COVID pandemic while it lasts. The installation can stay past the pandemic and become a functional 'monument' to later generations due to its inherent design peculiarity, attesting to what happened in 2020. It would cater to the needs of the current pandemic today and capture the essence of 2020 for the unborn generation.

Details:

Budget: The estimated cost for materials, fabrication and installation is $2500 per modular unit with one extension bar.

Materials and Fabrication: Polyethylene is the major material employed in the overall module design along with plastisol coated steel as connector and bicycle rack. Polyethylene is crafted from an eco-friendly, post-consumer material that can last decades exposed to the element.

Installation and Other Services: Modules are designed to be connected with steel bars which also act as bicycle racks. Various termination options include Sanitation stations and thirst fountains (if access to supply can be arranged). A typical module is slightly shorter than an adult bicycle along its longest dimension and will fit any cube van or SUV. Once on site, modules can be arranged freely to suit site spatial constraint and fastened one to another with the steel bicycle rack tubes.