(Feb. 15, 2017) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Design Week Portland invite the community to submit their ideas for a special only-in-Portland Park(ing) Day. Held on the first day of Design Week Portland, April 14, the Portland-only Park(ing) Day will create opportunities for Portlanders, artists and activists to reinvent public spaces as mini-parklets around the city. The goal of the program is to inspire creative placemaking and to highlight different uses of our streets, sidewalks and alleys.
Coinciding with the launch of the new season of PBOT’s Portland in the Streets programming, this special Park(ing) Day will take place on at Custom Blocks located in the heart of the Central Eastside. The PBOT and Design Week Portland partnership represents a merging of the respective missions of the Portland in the Streets Program and Design Week Portland: To promote creative and innovative design approaches that have significant cultural and social impacts on everyday life.
The bureau invites Portland residents and members of the Portland design community to submit their Park(ing) Day installation proposals to transform and enliven 8‘ x 20’ parking spaces throughout Portland into temporary art and design spaces. Applications, guidelines and requirements can be found at www.pbotparkingday.com.
“Design is essential to the work we do at PBOT- for safety, efficiency and for fun,” said Transportation Director Leah Treat. “Transforming our public right of way into creative and fun parklets for Park(ing) Day is a wonderful reminder to us all that streets are, first and foremost, for people. We are thrilled to have the support of Portland’s incredible design community to help us in our mission.”
"Collaboration and diverse perspectives yield greater innovation and better design,” says Tsilli Pines, the festival’s director. “This design challenge issued by PBOT, as part of Design Week Portland, is a great example of the impact design can have on the future our city.”
The City of Portland has held Park(ing) Day since 2006. The program is part of the bureau’s Portland in the Streets initiative which encourages people to get creative and re-imagine their streets, parking spaces, plazas, and alleys as places to enjoy and engage the surrounding community. Other Portland in the Streets programs include block parties, community events, street seats and a community grant program. Portland will celebrate Park(ing) Day twice this year – on April 14 as part of Design Week Portland and on the internationally recognized day on September 21, 2018.