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| This is the very first Park(ing) Day, in 2005. |
Why have artists, environmentalists, and designers been saving up quarters for today? Because today is Park(ing) Day, a day when many people all over the world transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.
Last
year 975 micro-mini-parks were built in 162 cities, in 35 countries,
on all six continents. (There are seven continents, but since nobody
really lives in Antarctica, and there are no metered parking spaces,
I found it completely non-surprising that nobody made a
micro-mini-park there!)
This
international yearly event started in 2005, when the company Rebar in
San Francisco made one parking space into a temporary public park.
And when I say “temporary,” I mean REALLY temporary: the meter
only allowed a car parking in that spot for two hours, so that's how
long this teeny park was set up.
(This first micro-mini-park is pictured above.)
Of
course, there is a point to this. Besides for providing a bit of fun
and whimsy, as temporary art installations often do, this project
makes the point that we need more green in big cities, more public
places, more oases in which people can relax and soak up nature.
Check
out the photos of some of the Park(ing) Day installations on the
“Archives” section of the official website!
Also
on this date:
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