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- Parklet in Rice Village on PARK(ing) Day 2014. (Photo Credit: Rice Design Alliance)
- Parklet in downtown Houston features oversized game board on PARK(ing) Day 2013. (Photo Credit: SWA Group)
- Westheimer parklet on PARK(ing) Day 2014. (Photo Credit: Clark Condon Associates)
In a city where single-family homes can take up an entire lot, imagine living in a space the size of a parking spot.
Allyn West is with the Rice Design Alliance at Rice University. He and his collaborators been working on a tiny house that can fit in one of those spaces.
“You’d have to sort of maybe adjust your definition of comfort,” West said. “But I think for a lot of people it would work and it would be plenty of space.”
As part of an international event known as PARK(ing) Day, more than 15 local groups are coming up with new uses for parking spots, with the emphasis on “park.”
They’re transforming spaces in front of downtown’s Chase Tower. One spot will be a meditation space. Another will become a putting green. And there will also be a yard for that tiny house that West and his friends built.
“For me, it’s sort of an investment in the creativity of the city’s residents, and how they’ll sort of come together and use the space in a way that’s not commodified in any sort of way,” West said.
You can check out those re-imagined parking spots this Friday.
