Experiential LandscapePocket Park

What is a Pocket Park???

• A park that is also known as parkette or mini-park.• Developed on free lots(forgotten place) or irregular

shape of land.• Not only can be found in the city, it can also be

found in small town• For people to stop and relax, read, eat a packed

lunch or meet some friends.

• A pocket park (also known as a parkette, mini-park, vest-pocket park or vesty park) is a small park accessible to the general public.

• Pocket parks are frequently created on a single vacant building lot or on small, irregular pieces of land.

• They also may be created as a component of the public space requirement of large building projects.

• Pocket parks can be urban, suburban or rural, and can be on public or private land. Although they are too small for physical activities, pocket parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and sometimes a children's playground.

• They may be created around a monument, historic marker or art project.

• In highly urbanized areas, particularly downtowns where land is very expensive, pocket parks are the only option for creating new public spaces without large-scale redevelopment.

• In inner-city areas, pocket parks are often part of urban regeneration plans and provide areas where wildlife such as birds can establish a foothold.

• Unlike larger parks, pocket parks are sometimes designed to be fenced and locked when not in use.

Facilities included:• Children playing corner(eg. Hatcham Gardens, New

Cross)• Sitting area (eg. Barking Town Square)• Walking/Jogging pathway• Food growing programme (eg. Brookwood House,

Southwark)• Organized informal parties• Air filter system(eco-friendly)

What do they do there???

• Children: -spend time with family and friends-This can help the children to become

more social-Avoid them from internet and video

games• Teenagers : meet up friends, exercising• Elders : walking and enjoy the view

Pocket Park

1 Utama Rainforest

Location• 1Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, Petaling

Jaya• 1Utama Shopping Centre• Ground Floor

History

• 2003, trees were selected and re-planted in the shopping mall

• Since 2004, 1Utama had started the ‘Go Green’ Campaign each year.

• One of the longest running ‘Go Green’ campaigns participated by 10,000 shoppers is ‘Feed-The- Fish Charity’ campaign.

• The concept of this Rainforest is to create an awareness on nature.

Features of 1Utama’s Rainforest

• Has koi ponds, suspension bridge and lush foliage• Relax setting replete with fresh water fish

swimming in the aquarium• Alfresco dining with a great selection of cafes and

restaurant surrounding the part• Plants are labeled to allow visitors to learn,

appreciate and understanding the nature

Activities:

• Sitting down at the benches• Children - feed the beautiful koi fishes• Teens or Families – dining at the nearby alfresco

cafe• Elders – walking around and enjoy the view

International Pocket Park

Barking Town Square

Location• Location: Suburbs of Barking, London, United

Kingdom• Development(Characteristics): Arboretum(where

trees shrubs , herbaceous , plants are being cultivated

- Around 40 mature trees• combination of both unusual and interesting

seating- Barking bench- Traditional- & flexible design

CLIMATE• Modern London has the equable climate of

South East England, with mild winters and temperate summers.

• The average daytime air temperature is 52 °F (11 °C), with 42 °F (5.5 °C) in January and 65 °F (18 °C) in July. Statistics show that the sun shines, however briefly, on five days out of six

SOIL TYPE

URBAN

CONTEXT

A

ABB

SECTION AA

SECTION BB

• Combination of both:- Soft landscaping; natural objects

(eg: trees,arboretum area)

- Hard landscaping; man-made objects- (eg: sitting area)

• Prior to the intervention. The area of paved level ground in front of the Town Hall, which was mainly used as a parking space, with the flank wall of the supermarket in the background.

After the intervention. “Folly Wall”, a new bare brickwork wall hides the supermarket flank wall and, in resembling a ruin, evokes the red-brick facades of Barking’s old buildings.

• PREVIOUS STATE• The suburb of Barking is one of the main focuses

of regeneration in the Thames Gateway project, an enormous initiative of urban transformation in which the banks of the river in East London are the main object. After years of neglect and marginal existence, its urban fabric has been subject to the pressures of major construction work while recent tensions between newcomers and the existing population have affected its social fabric.

• AIM OF THE INTERVENTION• Barking needed a new civic space that would

rescue a lost identity from the past and that would project into the future a place where the new community could come together. The creation of a new main square in the centre of the district, with an investment of over two and a half million euros, was part of the Mayor of London’s "100 Public Spaces" programme.

• DESCRIPTION• The area of paved level ground in front of the Town Hall, which

was mainly used as a parking space, has now been transformed into a centrally located, well-equipped main square that is full of shared meaning and sense. Besides the Town Hall, the new square is flanked by a library and a Learning Centre, while the fourth façade is “Folly Wall”, a new bare brickwork wall which hides a supermarket flank wall and, in resembling a ruin, evokes the red-brick facades of Barking’s old buildings. The square is connected with Ripple Road, the borough’s main shopping area, by way of an arcade illuminated by chandeliers and tiled with black and white terrazzo paving slabs that hark back to London’s magnificent Edwardian houses. Alongside the arcade and the square is an arboretum with forty mature trees of sixteen different species that are lit up at night with colours that vary according to the time of year.

• ASSESSMENT• The eclectic coming together of all these

picturesque and extravagant elements counters the banality of an urban landscape that had lost its attributes, giving the space the colour of new meanings and making of it a recognisable and meaningful place. Surprisingly, it is eccentricity that has brought centrality to Barking’s new main square

Facilities:• A space for everyday relaxation• Sitting area• Community space(eg: organisation of community

parties, informal parties like barbecue• Arboretum ; help in enriching people’s knowledge

about nature and also allow people to appreciate