Shaping our City: Brainstorming Session at Civic Space Tomorrow!

BCL Workshop

Friday, January 3rd, 2013 at 7pm – CIVIC Space (411 Pelissier Street, Windsor, Ontario)

As static as Windsor might seem at times, it is definitely going through some changes. Our downtown is a lot brighter because of the large screens on the Windsor Star building, the University of Windsor’s downtown campus opens next year, the aquatic centre is opening this year, we have a new bridge that may be completed in 2020, the new Penalty Box location is reviving a historical building on University Avenue West, and the old Grace Hospital has been torn down.

In the vein of our previous project, City Counseling (Session #1), we’ll be talking through new ideas and changes happening in the city, as a group. The goal of this brainstorm session is to bring people together, learn something new about Windsor, and contribute creative perspectives for shaping this city. I hope you can make it down to Civic Space tomorrow at 7 pm (January 3rd) to contribute to these conversations.

This event is a collaboration with Life In a Border Town.

Desire and the City Day 1: The Results

IMG_3064

This past Saturday, CIVIC Space saw the first session of Desire and the City, the first of a two-part design workshop created by our friend Kiki Athanassiadis. Kiki is interested in the potential that abandoned lots suggest, and since Windsor has many of them, there was an abundance of source material to pull from. She put together a kit for everyone to use; it consisted of survey forms to use at the abandoned lots, large black and white images of lots in Windsor, and images of objects printed on vellum that could be taped and overlapped. These materials allowed us to visualize our ideas in a very gratifying way (as you’ll see below).

IMG_3054

Kiki also posted some colour shots of general areas and a “master map” of where the sites are located in the city.

IMG_3058

Here Kiki explains her survey forms and what we might want to note once we head out to our desired lots.

IMG_3061

After Kiki describes the project and the instructions for how the session will work, we start to think about which lots we might visit. Sara and I decided to go East and visit a lot near Caesar’s Windsor.

IMG_3062

Here’s a closer shot of the survey forms. They are about half the size of a regular sheet of paper and bound with a think glue. They’re nice.

IMG_3066

Kiki shows us where the lots she’s photographed are located in relation to the downtown core.

IMG_3068

…and we’re on our way. Most of the pack decided to head West, but we went East.

IMG_3069

Embarrassingly enough, I forgot to get a shot of the property we chose. It looked like it was for sale, but the real estate signs and wooden posts were left in a heap in the middle of the lot. When we returned, we briefly shared our ideas. The ideas ranged from community garden proposals to a manmade volcano. We used the pages Kiki laid out to mock up our ideas in space. Obviously, there wasn’t a volcano printout, but most people found what they needed in the stack.

IMG_3073

Everyone got really invested in his/her creation and, consequently, we didn’t realize how quickly time was going by.

IMG_3078

Here’s a little covered garden / naturalized area tucked into the corner of this lot.

IMG_3079

Here is a celebratory lot between two commercial spaces, complete with bunting and all.

IMG_3080

I didn’t know a pallet pathway was a possibility until I saw this idea. The pallets could also be filled with something, or be used as planters.

IMG_3083

Here’s something you don’t see enough of: public tree houses. There really isn’t a compelling reason why something like this couldn’t exist, besides the issue of accessibility. It also looks like the main treehouse is a garden…interesting.

IMG_3082

Here is a pretty serious community garden proposal that covers a whole abandoned lot with greenery. It looks like it might also house a massive compost bin. Impressive!

IMG_3085

This proposal looks like a fairly substantial gazebo structure or performance stage. I like the way it works with the shape of the railroad ties pictured beneath it.

IMG_3090

There’s more to come, so please join us for the second day of Desire and the City on Saturday, September 14th from 1-4pm at CIVIC Space. Don’t forget to register here. Hope to see you!

Desire and the City: A Citizen’s Abandoned-Lot Design Consultancy (Sept. 7th & 14th at Civic Space)

Desire and the City

DESIRE AND THE CITY: A Citizen’s Abandoned-Lot Design Consultancy Led by Kiki Athanassiadis (Register Now!)

September 7th & September 14th, 2013 from 1-4pm – CIVIC Space (411 Pelissier Street, Windsor, Ontario) 

Led by recent transplant and guest artist Kiki Athanassiadis, this is Part One of a citizen’s design workshop to imagine, design, build and deploy a non-permanent design solution for an empty lot near you.

Is there an empty lot that’s close to your heart? One that you think is great as is or, conversely, think could be put to much better use?

The aim of this 2-day design consultancy, where you become both client and designer, is to help you articulate via playful means, your desire for civic improvement.

For two Saturday afternoons in September, CIVIC Space will be transformed into your local pop-up design studio & consultancy. We will visit local empty lots, collect data and play with paper & reproductions of the sites and various design elements that each designer can assemble into their civic enhancement solutions.

Day 1: We concentrate on sites around Civic Space.

Day 2: Participants work on sites of specific interest to them – maybe ones located in their own neighbourhood!

This workshop is open to all! No design experience necessary. Please bring your camera if you have one.

For more information, please contact Kiki Athanassiadis here.

Please Register Below:


[gravityform id=”21″ name=”Desire and the City Registration Form” title=”false” description=”false”]