72U Venice Pop Up Park - Fence Tables - 08.17.15
Saturday marked the opening of the Venice Pop Up Park at 1021 ½ Abbot Kinney Blvd! On fun NOTlabs projects, Shawn and I had the pleasure of helping the latest 72U group (ad agency 72andSunny’s 12 week creative residency program) bring this park to life. An idea sparked at TedX Venice Beach was to turn a 1,500 sq ft dirt lot where a house once stood just off the uber-hip Abbot Kinney Blvd into a community co-working park of sorts where people can meet, collaborate, relax, have lunch, and more!
72U brought us in to lead their diverse group of 6 creatives (artists, engineers, architects, and everything in between) from around the world - who had never built something of this scale before! It has been an incredible journey the last 2.5 months… from ideation and concepting to prototyping and planning, and the final few weeks of hardcore manual labor in the hot LA sun! There is no detail they didn’t get their hands dirty with.
All their hard work has created an incredibly inviting pop up park due to their innovative FENCE! Tasked to fence in the park (it’s on private property) when closed, they found a work around to keep it feeling as open and inviting as possible to passersby by having the fence transform into tables. When open, the fence panels hinge inwards to make tables and bars. The design is further highlighted by their geometric mural that hides the table tops in plain site. Take a peek at the making of, the fence/tables, and the launch party on the next page.
From the 72U team prototyping in the basement - to literally transforming the dirt lot into a park! You can see the fence/tables going in on the bottom photos.
The mural freshly painted - highlighting the tables like windows into the park. Photo by Tulio Tavanielli.
Signage up, modular crate seating/tables built, and interactive wall/bookshelf all ready to go.
Taking a night to try it all out and celebrate park completion before the big launch party!
Here’s Tim showing off how they transform. (gif from 72U)
Party time! On Saturday afternoon, the Venice Pop Up Park was presented to the community!
Before the party, you see the fence secured…
During the party - TABLES! I don’t think a single person walked by outside without leaning in at the tables and asking people what was going on. The 72U team’s fence design is definitely a success when it comes to connecting and engaging the community.
A panoramic view of 72U director, Maria Scileppi, sharing the story of the park - you can see everything from the future waffle vendor’s 1/4 shipping container to the stages, interactive wall, and fence tables in action. [Click to view larger!]
Pairing the fence tables with a food truck on the street - it’s almost like a drive-in when one person saves a table, and another grabs the food and delivers it through the fence!
Congrats Peri, Tim, Mar, Tulio, Simon, Naheel, Maria, and Karen of team 72U on the Venice Pop Up Park! We can’t wait to see how the community takes to it! And if you’re in the neighborhood stop by visit at 1021 ½ Abbot Kinney Blvd!
