The first day of the workshop turned into a site visit to Troparevo Nikulino,led by a cycling advocate living in the district.
DIY Traffic Counters
Theodore Ullrich of Tomorrow Lab built and deployed DIY traffic counters with workshop participants which were installed at three different locations in the district to measure vehicular traffic.
Balloon Mapping in Troparevo Nikulino!
Aurash Khawarzad of Change Administration led a group of participants to build and deploy a balloon mapping camera to take aerial photographs upto 1KM above the ground.
Transforming Public Space in Mitino: The Finale
The final modular interventions to create a positive public space, responsive to people’s requests:
A book exchange
A mini house co-designed by a kid who added the light and curtains
Lots of nice seating area, things to read and plants to be around.
A games box: Tic-tac-toe and chess / checkers
And a bike rack.
We also installed a chalkboard, DIY map and notebooks for feedback and people to express themselves.
The best part was probably the return of several kids who ended the day making their own toys after codesigning some of the spaces.
All these pieces can be moved and rearranged by the community depending on what they want. Unfortunately, it seemed rather than wanting them to remain there, people either wanted to buy them, take them home, advertise on them or… destroy them. So for now, they are no where.
Photographs by Alex Melnikoff
Day 5: Construction with TYIN, kids and participation
Yesterday, everyone was in their groove, and we had a lot of people join our ‘building block’ party. Mostly children, who were super enthusiastic and unstoppable. Nikita was back and his father claimed he had not stopped talking about coming to help us the next day. Two other young boys wandering the area joined us. All the kids helped with painting sanding, sawing and picking up scraps of wood.
Day 4 with TYIN: On Site Construction in Mitino
We finally got ourselves (and all the materials) to the site in Mitino, where the team began ‘constructing with wood 101′ – sawing, drilling, and avoiding self mutilation.
Urban Conquest: DIY Neighborhood Games!
Randomly coinciding with Day 1 of the London Olympics, residents and urban hacktivists created and deployed their own games in Voykovskiy. Beginning midday, participants designed, constructed and played in spaces that had been underused, waiting to be activated.
Situationist soccer
Using found wood to build three goal posts in a recreational space in the park that was meant for basketball. Because the surface was less than ideal (and because many of us love soccer and situationists) it was the perfect (and perfectly random) game to play. Three teams, three goals.
More Badminton
Everywhere is a badminton court.
Swinging at the bus stop
Rope + a sawed plank of wood to install a swing at a bus stop.
Street Dominoes
A larger than life domino game to interact and occupy an unused public space.
More Checkers
With the help of locals who had been painting and maintaining the tram stop, we color coded a board days before and used cans to identify competing teams.
The Ultimate Race
We used tape and chalk boards to turn a shortcut where people climb over a gate to get to the train platform and skip buying tickets into a game. Players time themselves and record their scores.
July 28 = Game Day in Voykvoskiy
Situationist soccer, badminton championships, furniture parkour obstacle courses, street checkers, dominoes… the fun is limited only by your imagination + enthusiasm. Come out and play!
Neighborhood Presentation: SynchroniCITY
We still need a name and the website continues to be tweaked (feel free to add suggestions to the comments), but on Sunday July 22 we presented the idea and online platform for SynchroniCITY to residents of Troparev-Nikulino during their weekly outdoor discussion forum.
The web application was developed by Alexey Sidorenko from Teplitsa Social Technologies, who converted the team’s concept, design and wireframe into a functioning, online reality in just a few hours.
The tool connects the offline, low tech mailbox method of involving residents to participate in solving local problems by giving them an online space to profile issues, discuss them, and access resources for solutions.
Essentially giving people a space of resources and discussion for neighborhood DIYism.
Hopefully after a test run with feedback from Troparevo, the tool can start to take root in districts across the city. We also want to incorporate barter among people to connect virtual and real space.
Check out the website here: http://ngo2.ru/sync/