Marisa Mariscotti Design Portfolio

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Park(ing) Day Bench

Process and Contextual Material

Park(ing) Day Bench

Environmental Design, 2011.

task Create an environmental or architectural design for a Rapid Viz class at City College of San Francisco.

challenge Design a structure which captured the DIY origins of “Park(ing) Day,” an annual day-long global event, while incorporating urban social objectives such as increasing public space access, landscaping urban environments, inspiring social interaction and referencing our cultural dependence on automobiles.

solution The bench’s form abstracts the appearance of a car resting on its roof with rubber inner tube planters suggesting tires in the air. Designed to be implemented in sidewalk extensions, the bench can be installed as a single unit or placed as a pair to fulfill the dimensions of a compact-sized car while creating an interior space that mirrors an undercarriage. Multiple levels and directions of seating inspires various opportunities for social interaction, while the built-in planters incorporate top-sided greenspace into the function of the design.