Informal Materials ; Tape

The propositions are the who, what, when, and how for a collaborative and improvisational approach to make
the large quantities of city-owned vacant lots—currently a detriment in those neighborhoods—into a new urban landscape that is community first rather than system first.

Utilizing the indoor MAC gym within the UIC rec facility as inspiration based on serving as a space for several different sporting events visible through taped lines on the court. Different colors distinguish the boundaries of different games, yet all are played in the same space.

To implement this into a vacant lot would require the input of the community to learn what activities are needed.

In the case of North Lawndale, these should be prioritizing the possibility for providing activities that will steer adolescents in a direction away from gang related violence, in this example, boxing is the activity which is created through informal materials (tape) and can be seen as a community built and maintained project on the 1915 S Drake Ave. vacant lot that is near a basketball court and is proposed to create a corner for sports and activities to be played for the locals.

The proposition is to create this collective space and maintaining it for the community, utilizing affordable and temporary materials that provides and exceeds the necessities of the locals

Specifications

Informal Materials ; Plant Seeds + Lawn Mower

Inspired by Annamaria Leon’s green focused work on vacant lots in North Lawndale, this lot takes a step further from providing green space. Natural foliage can be intertwined with activities like hopscotch where the numbers are formed by flowers and the squares are formed by creeping thyme new plants planted to create games for others when they bloom, examples can be hopscotch, four square, chess, checkers, hit the penny etc.

An informal green space that provides activities for the community and fluctuates based on the season can contribute to the community efforts in North Lawndale as an informal interaction to green spaces. What can cause it to be informal is the interaction with the community, the temporary timeline of the solution, and the help of the community regarding how their necessities can be implemented into the site or multiple sites.

The proposition is to create this collective space and maintaining it for the community, utilizing affordable and temporary materials that provides and exceeds the necessities of the locals.

Specifications