This past Friday, Sep. 21, students enrolled in the UNL College of Architecture had a peculiar project. Each group of students were instructed to build an interactive park inside a 9 x 18 foot parking stall. This project was an annual event known as PARK(ing) Day. For the past few years, PARK(ing) Day has been directed by the the university’s Associate Professor of Architecture, Peter Olshavsky.

On this day, an estimated 16 architectural installations were spaced out along P street, between 11th and 14th Street, and were left up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Designs ranged from social commentary on internet safety, to focusing on tactile design to crafting comfort from recycled materials.

 “I started running PARK(ing) Day at UNL in 2012,” Peter Olshavsky said. “Since then, it has grown and is now part of the education of second year architecture students in the College of Architecture with support from AIA Lincoln.”

These projects aimed to give students real world practice when it came to designing, construction and planning by placing their parks along the busy downtown streets, as well as gave students a chance to showcase their ideas to the people walking by. Students were given only one month to brainstorm, draft and construct life size parks made from materials at hand. Judges then visited each stand and questioned the students on their design. Passers-by were encouraged to visit the students’ parks, and to enjoy the ephemeral beauty of the project.

One of the key reasons behind PARK(ing) Day is to bring attention to the ever-increasing amount of cars our society uses each day.

“Cars are useful but they cause problems,”  Olshavsky said. “They pollute, take up a lot of room in cities, and promote driving over walking. We hope that taking part in this annual global event promotes a better and healthier urban environment in Lincoln that is not so car oriented. We also want to show the valuable role design can and should play in Lincoln. Without good design, all of Lincoln suffers.”

PARK(ing) Day was part of a global event where artists and activists around the world worked together to transform parking spaces into temporary parks for the city to enjoy.

According to the official website for PARK(ing) Day, (parkingday.org) the idea for PARK(ing) Day began in 2005, when Rebar Art and Design Studio, a San Franciscan group that focuses on art, design and activism, transformed a single parking space into a public park. Their design consisted of a rolled out patch of grass, a single tree, and a public bench. Their park stayed open for only two hours, the maximum amount of time permitted by the parking meter.

Over the years, PARK(ing) Day has strayed from the original design of a small public park, and has since evolved into temporary bike shops, art installations, political seminars and even free clinics. Artists have begun using this national event to help draw attention to various issues faced by their cities, states, and even nations.

The next PARK(ing) Day in Lincoln Nebraska will take place in September 2019 and will feature more projects designed by the students, and will take place in downtown Lincoln.