September Recap > Park(ing) Day LA @ LOCAL PARK

Besides a small mishap with the "K" that was quickly resolved, Standard's LOCAL PARK design was a huge hit on Park(ing) Day LA.

No kid was immune to the call of the sandboxes. That includes us.

Some even brought their own beach toys!

Our host, LOCAL owner Jason Michaud, was so smitten with the topiary statement, rumor has it that the park might just be parking semi-permanently at LOCAL in the very near future.

Among our many visitors, our friend Stephen Box - the mayor of Park(ing) Day LA himself - stopped by to say hello. Kill Radio also sat down in our beach chairs for a bit and did a quick interview with Silvia and Jeff. You can catch their film of Park(ing) Day LA at the Bike Oven this month. And Mike Manalo, a media design researcher at Art Center took these amazing photos as he went on Park(ing) Day LA walkabout throughout the city.

If you missed it, don't worry. LOCAL PARK will be making an encore appearance (along with other Parking Day LA installations) at the ULI Live Conference, October 26-28 at the LA Convention Center as part of The Square, a showcase of place-making, LA-style, curated by Frances Anderton.

For a round up of all the spectacular pop-up parks that sprouted up this year around town, check out City Watch's round up.

Huge thanks to Silvia and Jeff and entire Standard team (especially Alex and Kazu)! The entire day went off without a hitch. And only one of us got a parking ticket!

September 16 > Parking Day LA > LOCAL PARK

Parking Day LA returns to the streets of LA on Friday, September 16th and as always, de LaB is heads back to our favorite spot at LOCAL. Silver Lake architects Standard will be our "park-itects" this year, transforming a simple spot into a statement. Their design is both literal and symbolic; an invitation and a reminder of Parking Day LA's rally cry this year that "streets are for the people." In their own words:

Taking cues from Parking Day’s theme, the iconic Hollywood sign, and the context in front of Local restaurant, LOCAL PARK is four large “topiary” letters that spell the word P-A-R-K. In combination with the existing storefront behind, the sign reads LOCAL PARK. Directed toward Sunset Blvd., the installation grabs the attention of the driving and bus-riding public and leaves the enigmatic impression of a green PARK at the side of the boulevard. Not in search of a fixed message, the sign might be read as a cheerful request to park your vehicle, and as an expression of the need for more green space in the city. The sign reverses the manmade vs. nature relationship of the Hollywood sign and turns the lettering into a landscape within the urban context. The letters are ballasted with sandboxes to create a temporary space for relaxing, expanding the space of the sidewalk.

So pop a squat, enjoy a plate of chilaquiles, and tell us what LOCAL PARK means to you.

For a full map of all the pop-up parks, click here.

Can't play hookie on Friday? You can still catch some of the parks at ArtCycle in East Hollywood for "Parallel Parking" on Saturday, Sept. 17th.

What: LOCAL PARK by Standard for Parking Day LA
Where: LOCAL Restaurant, 2943 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026
When: 11am-ish to 4pm-ish


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Save the Date! Sept de LaB> Park[ing] Day LA Sept 18th

We are teaming up with our friends at Curbed LA and Greenmeme for Park[ing] Day LA! Come join us as we work together to transform a parking space located in front of LOCAL restaurant into a sustainably designed pocket-park.

Come by, enjoy a lemonade, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. More details on our future pocket-park and what you can do to help to come.



in the meantime, here's more on Park[ing] Day:

Too often, when people think of Los Angeles they envision a maze of asphalt, smog and traffic congestion. The automobile reigns supreme and as a result one’s ability to navigate through the City becomes compromised with the burden of too many vehicles clogging the road. Sidewalks have been narrowed and opportunities for open space, parks, civic plazas and public places have been sequestered into the hills, which unfortunately are often inaccessible to anyone without an automobile. Despite being home to one of the largest urban parks in North America (Griffith Park), Los Angeles significantly lacks adequate & accessible open space, urban parks, plazas and civic centers.

In 2005, the Rebar group, a small group out of San Francisco, opened eyes worldwide by transforming a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities. Their goal was to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax and play and to:

• Promote a critical dialogue among artists, designers, activists, citizens, corporations, and government regarding the need for urban open space and they way in which streets are currently used.

• Energize civic life by questioning basic assumptions about urban space while offering provocative and meaningful alternatives.

• Connect artists, designers, and activists with ways to permanently reclaim the street for people.