The Kiosk at Better Block

The City of Norfolk engaged Team Better Block to work with the community to temporarily transform a portion of Granby Street into a vibrant preview of the upcoming Art and Design District. For two beautiful days in April, an amazing number of volunteers came together to realize a kind of “Living Charrette”; an experiment in urban design and pop-up commerce that included art galleries, performance spaces, and shops in empty storefronts; a public plaza with live music, art-making demonstrations, and a beer garden; food trucks parked along Granby Street; new sharrows and crosswalks painted on the street.

Better Block presented the perfect reason to retrieve The Kiosk from its resting place in storage at the Branch House headquarters of the VSAIA. It had renewed purpose to fulfill its function as a “content generation machine” with the goal of learning what people would like to see in the soon-to-be Art & Design District, much like it did in the three different locations around Old Manchester, Richmond. A hit with the huge crowd that attended the event, the Drawing Box quickly took on a new life as a tag wall for young and old alike. Our favorite: “Best Day Ever.” (though the Ninja Turtle was a close second).

Click this link to read Team Better Block’s assessment of Norfolk’s event (top five!), and be sure to watch the featured video by #PRESSPLAE – the Kiosk is featured at the end.

 

PANORAMIC VIEW OF BETTER BLOCK

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VIEW FROM SOUTH

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ZEDDS CORNER FUN

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VIEW FROM INSIDE DRAWING BOX

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ZEDDS CORNER VIEW TO LOWER GRANBY-SCOPE

Zedds-Corner-view-to-lower-Granby-and-Scope

 

VIEW FROM INSIDE DRAWING BOX

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VIEW FROM INSIDE ADJACENT WINDOW

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JUNIOR FIREMAN IN THE DRAWING BOX

junior-fireman-in-the-drawing-box

 

ZEDDS CORNER AT NIGHT

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NIGHT VIEW

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PANORAMIC VIEW OF BETTER BLOCK

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What Do You See (the continuing saga of the Kiosk) at ArchEx East

The ELA class project that Thom has been engaged in for the whole of 2011 came to a conclusion at ArchEx East, the annual regional architecture convention which takes place each Fall at the Richmond Convention Center. The group presented the project to a group of attendees which included leaders in the professional and academic realms of the architectural discipline, such as key administrators and officers of the VSAIA, Virginia Tech Dean of CAUS Jack Davis, FAIA, and principals of prominent firms both regional AND national. Michelle Kaufmann, principal of Michelle Kaufmann Studio and the Keynote Speaker for the conference, attended the presentation and provided positive feedback.

 

Kiosk on Showroom Floor
On the showroom floor.
Kiosk Viewport
Last drawing done in the Kiosk.

The Kiosk: site builds

First two days of the on-site Kiosk build was a success. There was even an article in Richmond’s Style Weekly.

Last day of the build will be Saturday, October 15th at Hull St. Public Library. So if you’re around, come and check it out.

Afterward, the kiosk will be presented at the ArchEX East 2011, which runs from November 2-4, and there its study and findings will be discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previous Posts:

The Kiosk: an update

The Kiosk

The Kiosk: an update

Much progress has been made on the kiosk project mentioned previously here.
Several weekends have been spent in Richmond building the structure and it is nearing completion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

400 Granby Street  Suite 301 Norfolk, VA 23510 Studio: (757) 227-5310

© WPA Website Maintained By

400 Granby Street
Suite 301
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 227-5310
© WPA
Website Maintained By