Client: Fairmount Greenway Task Force

Year: 2016

Project Team

• Fairmount Greenway Task Force

• Erica Quigley / Gardens for Life (Landscape designer)

• Sara Brunelle  (Landscape designer)

• Claudia Paraschiv (Designer)

*Project concept developed for KaBOOM! grant application

“Play Like Back in the Day” is a vacant lots to pop-Up parks project was developed for the Play Everyone KaBOOM! Grant. CSC worked with Erica Quigley, Sara Brunelle, and Claudia Paraschiv to develop the concept through a series of on-site community engagement pop-ups with the Mattapan Farmers Market and summer camp in Uphams Corner. At these pop-ups, kids, youth, adults, and seniors were asked about their play memories, which sparked many great conversations!

The final design concept that was submitted in the grant was a pop-up park on a vacant lot in Four Corners (Dorchester) that would have a fun “conversational” component about play.  We planned to ask community members to share memories of how they played, what songs they sang, and what games they loved. The recordings would be embedded in vertical sculptures – aka “Sharing Trees.” When a child would press their ear against a tree, they’d hear the memory and be inspired to mirror the activity described. In addition to direct action, the memories would prompt multi-generational conversations; caregivers would remember their own play experiences and suggest a favorite game or song.