Urban Bricolage

publicdesignfestival:

Flashback: 2003 Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

Rottenpot by Superuse Studios. To turn waste (cable reels) into a new mean of transport or a play structure.

Free book-sharing setup in the streets of Savannah, GA

unconsumption:

The laudable trend toward free book-sharing setups has gotten plenty of attention, and here at Unconsumption we have highlighted many notable examples — some involving phone booths of all sorts; informal street versions; and of course the Little Free Libraries initiative.

But this particular book-share project happens to have an Unconsumption connection: It’s located in the community Metro Star Garden in Savannah, GA, where Unconsumption co-founder Rob Walker (that’s me) has some involvement.

In fact, if you happen to be in Savannah this Friday night April 5, the Metro Star Library makes its official debut in connection with the monthly Art March. Several of us from the garden will be around from 6-9 pm, showing off the garden and library and just generally hobnobbing with neighbors and Art Marchers. Perhaps there will even be refreshments? Only one way to find out for sure!

Anyway, the Metro Star Library was built at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Boundary Hall, and came about thanks in large part to the efforts and generosity of SCAD’s Scott Thorp and Todd Yuratich, as well as a number of students. Scott, a professor and the design program coordinator at SCAD, arranged for a bunch of students to sign on for an extra-credit series of workshops organized around building little libraries. Todd, an amazing woodworker who oversees the Boundary Hall shop space and also has his own practice, Miel Manufacturing (don’t miss his very cool “wooden paintings,” made  completely from offcuts), led the workshops.

The blue/grey library was the one Todd built as a demo, and the second structure, which the garden is using as an “information” box (which we needed) was created by students Sydney Barnett, Taylor Olenik and Jamie Karaat, who I believe are all fashion majors.

Both structures were designed and constructed entirely from excess materials around the shop — pretty cool!

And they look even better in person. So Savannah folks should come by the garden Friday night!

More pictures of the garden itself (which is also a repurposing project of sorts — it used to be a vacant lot) here.

And of course, there’s much more elsewhere in the Unconsumption archives about swapping, sharing and the sharing economy / collaborative consumption, libraries, and books.

—rw

Metro Star Garden Library Debut: Friday Night April 5, 6-9 pm, corner of 38th & Howard, Savannah, GA.

They are prototyping the city!

publicdesignfestival:

To design, to drill, to be satified with and to test. It’s construction time on Via Solari in Milan. An abandoned public space of Quartiere Operaio Umanitaria is going to become a new piazza for the residents and citizens. It’s a project by esterni in collaboration with IED, for the fifth edition of Public Design Festival.

Follow the updates!