GGLO’s crack team of designers transformed a chunk of John St. into a captivating azur hangout at the Seattle Great City Initiative’s Summer Street Scene Party yesterday, next to the South Lake Union Discovery Center. GGLOers, friends, and new acquaintances stopped by to chat, eat, nurse their babies, and chill in the shade, making “The Hang Out” installation a success.
The competition asked designers and artists to “transform ordinary, identical parking spots into unique innovative, attractive and inviting urban spaces,” and a handful of GGLO’s LA group--Laura, Anne-Emilie, Marieke S R, Wilma, Kent, Zack, and Meredith--took on the challenge.
Starting with a few charettes where they mulled over what was lacking on the ordinary South Lake Union street, the inspiration for The Hang Out came from Laura’s images of laundry hanging above the streets of European and Asian cities. The group was hooked: not only is hanging laundry a delightful sight, it conveys so many important messages! Drying laundry outside saves energy and keeps greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. It creates shade on hot July days. And, in South Lake Union, where condos and HOAs dominate the landscape–and often prohibit public drying--it puts a personal touch in the public realm.
With the addition of tables and chairs to three Breezecatcher umbrella-style clotheslines, the team created a fantastically comfortable and inviting place to hang out uniquely suited to summer urban streetlife. (Buy yours from Paul at The Clothesline Shop.)