Play-ground

Abstract

Though currently bound by a purely horizontal logic and limited to fulfilling only the most basic provisions. the design of surface parking has significant latent potential. Taking from the rubber-stamped landscape strategies of municipal playgrounds found in urban America and the rubber-stamping strategies of big-box retail which are disseminated throughout the American suburban landscape, this thesis attempts to recover the surface parking lot by equating park and parking in a double-loaded program of 100 % PARK / 100% PARKING. With cues from the examination of play and game strategies, this thesis infuses the 'Lot' landscape with double meaning that attracts both the consuming and unassuming into a physical space of chance, strategy and play. As an adaptable cover with interwoven programs, the double-loaded the surface parking lot can then serve as a new landscape typology which responds to contextual situations and in turn sponsors new patterns of occupation.