NEWBURGH: DESIGN FOR PLAY COMPETITION
We had an incredible response to the Newburgh: Design For Play ideas competition with over 70 submitted proposals for how to transform Newburgh’s streets; so that children, young and old, can safely play, learn, socialize and have fun this summer, and beyond. Ideas ranged in scale, from individual play elements to systems that would transform entire blocks.
The three winning designs will be launched in the streets of Newburgh in the upcoming months. Stay turned for more details!
Also, all the submitted proposals can be found below. If you are interested in implementing any of these ideas in your community and want to get in touch with the designer, contact us and we would be happy to make an introduction. All copyrights for images remain the property of the authors and should be credited accordingly.
Click here to download the PRESS RELEASE.
For more information about the Newburgh: Design For Play ideas competition — including submission guidelines, partner organizations, and selection committee members — please CLICK HERE.
AWARDEES
makerBoards
Design Team
downupNY: Kate Walters, Nola Kim Mayer and Aden Fischer-Brown; @downupNY
Community Partners
Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy and Safe Harbors
Project Description
Design for play is design for making, creating, collaborating, and sharing. We are downupNY, a group of Vassar College students experimenting with COVID-safe design within the context of our own campus and the broader Hudson Valley. Our Newburgh submission is makerBoards, a series of mobile windows that invite kids and families to co-create while mitigating exposure. From dry-erase art creations, to musical compositions, to something as simple as a game of checkers, makerBoards are a return to imaginative and cooperative play for Newburgh residents of all ages. Each window’s rolling frame enables versatility in spatial design as well as easy storage and maintenance. Low material and construction costs allow for the purchase of a shade sail for sun protection. We’ve proposed three potential window designs, and there are endless possibilities for future additions and iterations. Check out @downupNY to learn more about who we are and our makerBoards journey.
PLAY & PAINT
Design Team
Anoushaé Eirabie, @anoushae
Yaxin Jiang, @yaxinj_xx
Community Partner
Newburgh Armory Unity Center
Project Description
PLAY & PAINT is street furniture designed to foster communal creativity while encouraging social distancing. The proposal aims to take advantage of the distribution of ‘sidewalk chalk’ and allows residents of Newburgh to watch their collective efforts culminate into a shared mural. The profiles of any of the unfolded geometries can be produced economically using any type of available sheet material (corrugated cardboard/large sheets of plastic), the geometry folds easily and fixes using added ‘tabs.’ Before folding, specific surfaces are painted using ‘chalkboard paint.’ Once folded these geometries offer themselves up for play but they can also be used as dividers, temporary tables, or casual seating. One component of the project involves marking the ground in order to place the objects a safe distance from one another and to encourage distancing visually for all users. The objects stack easily, and can always be unfolded for storage purposes. PAINT & PLAY brings a new meaning to collaborative street art that can be enjoyed anywhere and at any time.
IMAGINATION PAVILION
Design Team
Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, @starrwhitehouse
Community Partner
Newburgh Free Library
Project Description
Imagination Pavilion is a kit of parts to assemble a friendly urban space for creativity. A canopy of umbrellas shades a flexible theater and play space for the child’s mind – storytime by day, shadow puppetry by night!! Designed with the dimensions of the angled parking on Broadway in downtown Newburgh in mind, the simple modular steel tube frame can be adapted to any site. The frame and pedestals, made of pipe fittings, easily disassemble, and the stage is on casters – making this pavilion ready to rove Newburgh’s public spaces. Our team welcomes the chance to partner with Newburgh’s performing arts educators, librarians, elementary school teachers, and others to develop this concept and discover the programs that will activate Imagination Pavilion.
HONORABLE MENTION
CLIP AND PLAY
Design Team
Victoria Vuono, @toriv121
Laszlo Kovacs, @l.b.koncepts
Project Description
This kit of low-tech tensile structures can support a variety of street programs for Newburgh. This open system of clips and ropes allow for components to be transformed easily by people of all ages and abilities for endless play potential. The kit of parts can accommodate sports, lounging, shaded gathering spaces, and information boards; all while maintaining a safe distance from one another. The flexibility of the systems enables new items to be incorporated. New items could be anything from a lantern taken from one's home to sanitizer stations introduced by the city. When the set needs to be relocated, the post legs can pivot up and the nets and fabrics are folded for easy storage and movement. This system creates negotiable street furniture, allowing Newburgh’s families to reconnect in public space meeting their shifting needs.
MAMANTUHWIN
Design Team
Miriam Kelly, @miriam8late
Project Description
MAMANTUHWIN (Lenape Dice Game): Before the arrival of Europeans, the area that is now Newburgh was inhabited by the Waoranek Indians, members of the Lenape Tribe of the Algonquin people. The games played by Waoranek children are surprisingly familiar! “Mamantuhwin” brings Waoranek games to life through the children of Newburgh. The components of the Mamantuhwin dice game are enlarged and become a giant game board on the street. The geometric "Game Blanket" is painted on the asphalt. Big bean bag "plum pits" provide soft, fun play props. A selection of Lenape games is stored inside the "Dice Shaker", which is also a seat. Mamantuhwin is a space for interactive games using simple toys that connect children across time, the world over.
URBAN OASIS
Design Team
Fernanda de Carvalho, @febr.e
Bruno Oshiro, @febr.e
Tayra Covolan, @febr.e
Project Description
The design of compelling shared and public spaces is always a challenge, and even more so today with social distancing requirements in place due to COVID-19. With this in mind, we propose urban furniture for the NEWBURGH: Design for Play competition that aims to promote responsible social interaction, learning, and enjoyment while also taking into account restrictions on physical contact. Other considerations for the project include mobility, durability, cost, and attractiveness. All of the proposed pieces are simple to transport and install. The furniture is light, with caster wheels installed on some items to further facilitate ease of transportation. The choice of materials considers cost, endurance, and ease of production and assembly. We combine objects from daily urban life with easily accessible materials. Beyond the technical requirements, we propose lucid, multi-purpose pieces that speak to the vitality and diversity of Newburgh’s community.
JUMP-BALL
Design Team (under 18 category)
Philip John
Project Description
The aim of the game is to get the ball into the hoop using the controllers and the pop up platform. The maximum number of players is 10, divided into 2 teams consisting of 5 members. The players from the 2 teams are arranged alternately around the table. Each player will have a foot pedal in front of them and a controller. The foot pedal controls the section of the pop up platform that is in front of the player while the controller controls the levers on the rod which, when the button is pushed, moves the levers forward hitting the ball ahead. The players can pass, shoot and even block using the controller and foot pedal. There are transparent separating screens from plexiglass between the players to enable social distancing and prevent the spread of covid-19 while at the same time allowing people of all ages to get together and play a game as a community. This game is all about timing and precision. The table, hoop and foot pedals can be dismantled and moved into storage or to another location.
SOCKEY
Design Team (under 18 category)
Samantha John
Project Description
1) Two teams, with each team member placed alternately besides an opponent. 2) Each player maneuvers the ball with their fixed sticks. 3) The aim is for a team to score a goal, hitting the ball into the opponent’s goal nets. 4) The team with the highest score wins. To prevent the spread of corona virus, each player is separated by a transparent screen made of plexiglass. The game may be used even after the pandemic with a set up that can be easily dismantled and transported. The bats are capable of a 360 degree rotation in their sockets and the length of the bat can be varied. The field is fairly small so that the bats have a longer reach without being too long themselves. The ball is larger in size to make the game easier to play, especially for the elderly. The number of players can vary from 4 to 8, according to the space available.
