somewhereto_ park
Jiselle Steele, regional team manager for Livity’s somewhereto_ project, reports back from her recent visit to a somewhereto_ in Belfast…
I visited Belfast to see Pocket Park, a somewhereto_ created by a group of architecture students who wanted to get creative with space.
Their aim was to create some green space in the city and redress the balance with the number of car parks. In Belfast city centre there’s the equivalent of 15 football pitches of parking spaces compared to only two and half football pitches of actual green space.
somewhereto_ is all about opening under-used space. We do this by getting young people and space-holders alike to think creatively about how they view space so that it can be used to allow young people to do the things they love.
Aaron and his friends transformed four on-street parking spaces into green space for the evening with the permission of Belfast City Council, with grass and flowers replacing the road, and bird-song replacing the drone of traffic going by. Passersby could take a seat in the somewhereto_ Pocket Park created by Aaron and his friends and children were able to make their own art with chalk drawings on the pavement.
The young people’s somewhereto_ coincided with Culture Night Belfast, a celebration of culture and the arts across Ireland with over 150 events spanning theatre, music, circus and literature. In the short time that I was in the city I came across a pop-up cinema, comedy in a caravan, street magic, live music in a square and a parade. Lots of spaces were opened to the public as part of the event as well as the somewhereto_ Pocket Park which helped to show the potential of linking young people and their passions to events like these to make their somewhereto_ happen.