Vancity Talks! A youth event organized by youth

In the summer, we assisted Tesicca Truong and Abbey Palaez in planning the youth event which took place at City Hall.  Councillor Andrea Reimer gave an introduction and then the co-designing began...Co-design drawings of an engaged city for youth!

Survey now up for Block 51 co-design

 Survey can be found here. The Block 51 screen day and block 51 co-design was organized by the City of Vancouver

Block 51 Codesigning

Stanley was part of a panel  describing all the pieces that came together for Erickson's Robson Square to happen.  The City of Vancouver posted some of the scenes of codesigning on their Flickr photostream: Below are a sample of photos from their photostream.   Co-Design Group members who facilitated dialogue:  Stanley King, Drew Ferrari, Christopher Small, Susan Chung, Judy Choi, Philip Chung: And all the Co-design drawings are in the Vancouver Public Space Network photostream  

Stanley King

Drew Ferrari

Philip Chung

Christopher Small

Susan Chung

Susan Chung, photo: Celia King

Christopher Small: photo: Celia King

Drew Ferrari: Photo: Celia King

Stanley King: photo: Celia King

Block 51: Chairs for Lovers Screen Day:a look at the past

still shot from Chairs For Lovers, NFB, directed by Barrie Howells

Stanley King,  Bing Thom, Alan Bell, Nick Milkovich 

Monday, October 15, Stanley stepped back into his role as community facilitator for Robson Square after forty years!  The City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Public Space Network hosted a screen day to look at the history of Robson Square.  After this, there was a panel which included architects who were part of the original design team:  Luminaries such as Bing Thom, Alan Bell, Nick Milkovich answered questions.  These were three members of Arthur Erickson’s original Robson Square design team. 

"The trio took turns reminiscing about some of the planning and design ideas that went into the original concept. Ideas that included:

• Closing the 800-block off to vehicle traffic
• A lively sub-grade area (where today’s ice rink and UBC are) that would feature retail and transit services along side government services
• A large reflective pool on the north end instead of fountain" 
•  Vancouver Public Space Network

The film was a fascinating look at the past and the present.   I mean, forty years have gone by and change happened to Robson street, to Vancouver, and to Stanley.  Here we were viewing a film about the expression of desired uses from the young people of the past.  We were seeing their dreams and aspirations from the perspective of hindsight: sitting right there in the space eventually designed by Erickson's design team.  And the space follows their desires pretty closely:  A dome over a skate rink, the water features, trees, water, the chairs for lovers.  Bing Thom reflected on how unprecedented it was for a young person like himself, in the 1970s to be given the creative freedom to design a truly great urban space. He called on the youth present that night to seize the opportunity to participate in creating the places they inhabit. 

After the panel, the Co-Design Group got busy and clusters of citizens codesigned Robson Street and the North Plaza.  For a codesign artist, like myself, it was amazing to take a felt pen and draw thoughts on this site again, understanding that it was codesigned forty years ago by young people when it was only a parking lot:

These young people are now in their fifties. But, that night,  a new generation of young people animated the space they dreamed of forty years ago.  We are recording their thoughts through feltpen and vellum.   I will wait and see how the planners and architects and landscape architects will translate these thoughts into landscape, stone, concrete, glass.  

                                                                                         --Susan

Vancouver Public Space Network blogged about it here where you'll find a gallery of the codesign drawings.

photo: Vancouver Public Space Network

Co-design is a key example of citizen design in a TED talk

Jess McMullin gives a TED talk on the importance of citizen participation in design - especially for public space.  The VIVA Vancouver Co-design street party is a key example of recording desired experiences as a starting point of design.  Furthermore, we engaged the public where they are:  on the street.   

Little Mountain Co-design Video

This video is great for describing the philosophy and rationale of co-design.   A 20 minute video of the Little Mountain co-design, facilitated by The Co-Design Group.  Co-design images are created by citizens and therefore, the citizens feel a great sense of ownership of the drawings.  The artist is only the hand for the mind's eye.  When the drawings are done, the design team analyzes and prioritizes all ideas to create a design solution from the complex and rich compilation of vignettes.  This co-design workshop was the start of an extensive consultation process.  A summary of their concepts can be found here.


Little Mountain Redevelopment: Meeting #1 The Stanley King Experience from David Vaisbord on Vimeo.