Design Sundays: Upcycled Urbanism
A design/build project for everyone

Have you ever wished you could redesign and rebuild part of Vancouver? Now is your chance.

Upcycled Urbanism is a participatory design project that empowers you to reimagine Vancouver's public spaces. Design and build prototypes in a team environment using modular blocks of polystyrene containing material salvaged from the construction of the Port Mann Bridge. This March, attend an Introduction to Upcycled Urbanism and any (or all!) of 4 workshops to brainstorm, sketch, and model new public space ideas. Then, in July, teams will come together again to build their creations in a large-scale outdoor event!

Mar. 3 - Designing together: A primer on how to run fun, inclusive public design workshops

This kickoff event focuses on how to hold a design charrette: a fun, engaging, and inclusive workshop in which experts and community members work together to turn their ideas into pictures and plans. If you've ever wanted to get people together to work on a new idea for your neighbourhood or your city, then this workshop can give you the tools. With guidance from Vancouver Design Nerds Marten Sims and Kim Cooper, we'll brainstorm how to bring an underutilized public space to life.

No need to have a design background, just bring your creative and curious mind!

 Upcycled Urbanism is a partnership between MOV, the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) at the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Public Space Network, Maker Faire Vancouver, and Spacing Magazine. With generous additional support from SALA, Vancouver Foundation and Mansonville Plastics.

Mar. 3 Workshop leaders are Vancouver Design Nerds Marten Sims and Kim Cooper.

Kim Cooper is the owner of Kale Creative, Vice President of the Vancouver Design Nerds Society and a founder of the Community Laboratory Society.

Marten Sims is a trans-disciplinary designer, artist, curator, researcher, facilitator and design faculty member at Emily Carr University. Over the past decade Marten has produced design work with and for a broad range of social, environmental, cultural, media, health, advocacy and science organisations. He was selected this January to City of Vancouver's 'Mayors Citizens Engaged City Task Force'.

Other dates:

Mar. 10 - Building Public Hallucinations: a design journey, with SALA and Spacing Magazine

Mar. 17: Block Talk: creating spaces that connect people, with SALA and VPSN

Mar. 24: Shock and surprise: public design juxtapositions, with SALA and Maker Faire