Denver, CO – The Downtown Denver Partnership and Downtown Denver Business Improvement District announced the 2016 Downtown Denver Prototyping Festival, an interactive event where nine local designers will unveil prototypes designed to transform public spaces, and showcase how participatory design, art and technology can create connections and greater ownership of public spaces and how they are used. The prototypes will be on display on the 16th Street Mall and Curtis Street from July 23 through 31. The community is encouraged to interact with each prototype and provide feedback on their experience. The Prototyping Festival is produced in partnership with the City and County of Denver.
Community members spanning all walks of culture, practice and discipline were encouraged to submit creative proposals for the Prototyping Festival that were sustainable, engaging and created a unique sense of place along the Mall. 34 prototype submissions were received from the community in May. Accepted submissions, determined by a committee of Downtown stakeholders along with staff from the Partnership and City, received a stipend of up to $2,500 to support project creation and installation.
“We are focused on ensuring public spaces in Downtown Denver, including the 16th Street Mall and its adjacent streets, are authentic, self-sustaining places supported by the entire community,” says John Desmond, executive vice president of downtown environment for the Downtown Denver Partnership. “The Downtown Denver Prototyping Festival is a great opportunity for the community to directly engage with our public spaces by experiencing and interacting with the prototypes to discover first-hand how these works can transform the Downtown environment and experience.”
Descriptions of each prototype are listed below, and additional details and conceptual designs can be viewed on downtowndenver.com.
Aperture
Sort Studio, Meredith Dale and Brian Dale
Aperture offers a contrast to the bustling environment of the 16th Street Mall by creating an inviting infrastructure for people to relax in an urban beach hut under a framed view of the ever-changing Colorado sky accented with dynamic patterns of light and shadow.
Iridescence
Fentress Architects, in association with Piedmont Plastics and Steel Storage Systems, Inc.
Iridescence brings giant plastic prisms (ranging from 3 to 6 feet tall) that reflect light to create rainbows, enhancing the sense of place as both a 3D piece of art as well as a unique seating area.
Mile High Mosaic
Emelia Jost, Worth Group Architects and Myka Works
Mile High Mosaic is a dynamic installation that explores the materiality, color and texture of “Colorful Colorado” by inviting visitors to touch and engage with screens constructed from wallcovering samples.
Peak1six
Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects
Peak1six invites visitors to explore the mountains in the heart of Downtown Denver, offering a uniquely visual experience that transports visitors to the mountains while immersed in the center city.
Pseudopod
Inworks
Pseudopod, inspired by the trumpet fungus mushroom, invites you to take a seat on this user-configurable bench that can be configured in hundreds of distinct iterations, and enjoy the unique lighting and joyful oddity it brings to the urban landscape.
Rainbow Street Seating
Nick Fish, Yong Huang, Tony Yue, AtelierHAY and WorthGroup
Rainbow Street Seating creates layered and abstract shaped seating that encourages interaction to transform pieces to create unique urban topographies that function as a street playground, a concert stage, a place to meet up and more.
Treeflexion!
Dig Studio, Ryan Sotirakis
Treeflexion! embraces the urban tree canopy of the 16th Street Mall by providing a unique space to linger, interact with others and “look up” to appreciate the essence trees bring to the Mall.
Urban Mall Dior
ama
META, Herb Kindsfater
Urban Mall Diorama Pass creates an environment of stillness and a platform to heighten awareness of the spatial experience.
Wheels Go Round
Kate Davis Studio
Wheels Go Round leverages spinning bicycle wheels to hear their distinct and unexpected sounds and an opportunity to stand and create a unique urban symphony.
The Downtown community and visitors are encouraged to engage with the prototyping festival by interacting with the prototypes and providing feedback through a passport program. Passports will be available at the Em’s Ice Cream cart on the 16th Street Mall between Champa St and Curtis St. Participants are asked to record their impressions of the installations on the passport to receive a free scoop of ice cream from Em’s Ice Cream.
Photos courtesy of Downtown Denver Partnership
