New Themes for Parks

Here is a really interesting set of ideas from Thomas Frey at the DaVinci Institute in Louisville, Colorado.

Tom says "Great cities throughout history were known far and wide for the grand parks that served as their centerpieces. But what do we think about today when we conjure up the image of a park? Fresh cut green grass, trimmed trees, playground for the kids, and perhaps a stream of water running through part of it."

So what's wrong with our parks? They have "somehow deteriorated into rubber stamped open space, boiled down to the bare essentials of grass, trees, sidewalks, playgrounds, and benches - nothing memorable, with little to inspire the mind. While there are a few exceptions to the tedium of today’s park culture, like the famed sculpture parks in Loveland, they remain isolated examples of what most would aspire to become."

We need to re-imagine what parks are and can be in our communities. Frey says "For this reason, I would like to propose a new approach - the idea of participatory parks where the community decides on a particular theme and becomes integrally involved in creating the distinctive features. Participatory parks will range from active to passive on various community involvement scales, but in each case, the host city will set into motion a long range plan for people to rally around."

Frey suggests we consider these new types of parks:

1. Poetry parks.
2. Water sculptures.
3. Music coves.
4. Wind sculptures.
5. Graffiti arts.
6. Fire sculptures.
7. Game themed parks.
8. Performing arts parks.
9. Light themed parks.
10. History themed parks.

To learn more, visit the DaVinci Institute website.