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Posts Tagged ‘Parking’

Porta-Park: Mobile Urban Square the Size of a Parking Spot

23 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

portable urban square project

Compact and portable, this crafty collaborative design-build project is part art installation and part impromptu gathering space. This student-built platform pushes people to think about the flexible potential of public space – it also showcases the power of group brainstorming and rapid prototyping.

portable student public space

Facilitated by Izmo in Italy, participating students followed a process-oriented approach. They were presented a framework for construction – a metal-framed rectangle – divided into four quadrants. Each of these sections was assigned to a group along with a set of discarded building materials ready to be reused and a time limit for construction.

portable public space deployed

The cut, pasted and painted result looks somewhat like a three-dimensional patchwork quilt. Its various sides feature fold-out furniture, sliding drawers and secret slots from which various interactive objects are deployed on demand. The structure itself sits on wheels and is sized to fit into public parking spaces or other small and slim sites.

portable park design build

About Izmo itself: “The name Izmo originates from the word isthmus, a thin strip of land that joins two areas. Our research topic is in fact the territory: where interactions take place between individuals and public space . Our mission is to link the territories, the people with the land and the citizens with each other. We do this, for instance, through projects of urban design, installation; organization of seminars, meetings and workshops; and development of Web platforms. In all cases, the projects designed by Izmo come from reading and from listening to people and places that will benefit from our operations.”

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Find the Perfect Parking Spot Before You Even Leave Home

18 May

[ By Delana in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

parkme app

There are countless maps and other direction-finding methods for your smartphone that can help you get to where you want to go – but once you get there, you still have to worry about parking. This, of course, is one of the most frustrating aspects of going anywhere in a mid-to-large-size city. In fact, some 30 to 50 percent of urban congestion is caused just by people driving around looking for parking spots. But never fear – an app called ParkMe is here to provide real-time parking availability information in cities and countries all around the world.

parking facility availability

The smartphone app works by utilizing data from a number of sources. Parking facility operators can update the app with their capacity and availability. Businesses can use a widget to provide real-time availability near their establishments, which is a win-win for them and their customers. Payment options are listed so you’ll know ahead of time if you need to have cash available.

parkme app locations

Not all of the 1800 cities featured on ParkMe have real-time data available; only a handful of cities in the US offer that level of seamless parking integration. But the app does tell you where you’re most likely to find parking near your destination and how much you’ll have to pay for the privilege of leaving your car there. If you enter the amount of time you’ll need to park, the app will even tell you what your total cost will be.

parkme mobile and computer

Overall, the app will reduce traffic congestion in cities by helping people find a place to park in advance. If  you could figure out your exact route, down to the entrance to the lot you’ll leave your car in, before you even leave your house – imagine how much easier it would be to get to your destination and get your fun outing started.

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[ By Delana in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Posted in Creativity