The architectural discipline incessantly debates the relationship between form and function, and it’s understood that an object’s form prescribes a defined and intended purpose. What possibilities arise when this notion is challenged? In what ways can design begin to address the possibility for the function to outlive its form? Drop-In investigates these themes as a small, grass-roots, urban intervention in downtown Kent, Ohio.
This intervention intended to materialize these ideas in an installation for Park(ing) Day, an international public-participatory project where people temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces into public parklets. To accomplish this, our team partnered with a local business, Dirty Skate Company, to host the event. The installation sought to bring together a community, generally restricted in their public territory, for a day of skating. The design consisted of a modular skate ramp that could be rearranged into four individual skate objects. As tools designed for user expression, each object configuration became representative of the creative and innovative nature of each skater.
