Parks for the People: Stage 1

by Student on March 3, 2012

Parks for the People is a collaborative initiative of the U.S. National Park ServiceVan Alen Institute, and the National Parks Conservation Association, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

In the first stage of the competition the EDI Studio produced a research-based, content-driven design for park experiences. We started our exploration by understanding the original mission of the National Park Services and investigated the idea of National Parks in the 21st Century. During this Phase we chose our site, The Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. The Studio was divided in independent teams of three and generated a base of study that could lead to new ideas for how to create an enhanced National Park experience by looking comprehensively at the disciplines of visitor studies, site planning, architecture, exhibition, interpretation, graphic design, technology integration, and human resourcing.

 

Our visit to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site informed our initial design proposal. For this phase of the competition we chose an interpretive, narrative based approach which aims to seamlessly integrate the Park’s mission and goals in the National Park experience. To develop this approach we studied and explored a wide range of design applications for tourist infrastructure, public space, municipal parks, museums, retail environments, art installations, performances, media productions, educational programs, etc.

At the end of our research phase we had a symposium which included professionals from various fields to give us input and different view points into our investigation. This informed our final submital for the Phase I of the Parks for People Competition.

Previous post:

Next post: