Washington Square Park
11 Am | 06 Sep, 2021
Location And History
Washington Square Park is located at 5 Ave, Waverly Pl., W. 4 St.
This park has had many historical events take place, like public executions, parades and so on. In 1827, it became a public park and was socially and culturally redefined by performers and protesters in the 20th century.
Observations
This project was done in collaboration with Joy Kim. We visited the Washington Square Park for the first part of our assignment, to understand the area, frequency of people and their behaviours and interactions.
People: Families, people with dogs, friends, couples, youngsters, artists, promotions
Behaviors: walking (with a dog), sitting, talking, eating (or coffee), painting, dating, promotions
Areas: There were many seating area around the park and open spaces around the fountains and certain corners of the park.
Ideation and Brainstorming
We started by thinking of different activities or games for people to perform.
Handprint/ Leaf print Painting
Puzzles
Fortune cookie/ lucky notes
X & Os game
Photo booth
Couple’s activities
(Sketches by Joy Kim)
Final Idea
We chose the “Tangram” game. It consists of seven flat polygons, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective is to replicate different patterns.
Tangram is an attractive game with colorful pieces, which is often played by children. Hence it will not only be visually amusing but also be nostalgic for players.
Goal: We will put up tangram puzzles with a few references around the iconic fountain at the park and see how this set invites people and how they interact with it.
Implementation:
We came up with three options to implement this-
- Put up a big table with two boards of different tangram examples
- Put up small tangram puzzles on the seating areas over the part
- One big tangram game on the floor
Materials: Cardboard/ compressed sawdust, color paper, magnet tape/sheet, printouts of examples, sanitizing wipes
Cost: $20-$30
Skill: We will be required to form various shapes with the pieces of the tangram
Roles: We will set up the game before 11 AM and then stay around the park to observe the responses. Depending on that, we will also change locations if required.
Anticipated failures or challenges
- If the weather is windy, it would be difficult to hold the pieces in place.
- People might not understand the purpose of the game
- The pieces could get lost or damaged during activities
- For safety/sanitation reason, some people may be reluctant to touch the pieces and get involved