Posted in AIA, Architecture, Event, Virginia Beach, WPA
On a warm summer day in July, Commerce Place at Virginia Beach Town Center was transformed into a city built entirely from cardboard.
Presented by AIA Coastal Virginia and the Central Business District Association, the inaugural Pop-Up City invited six Hampton Roads architecture firms to transform everyday materials into human-scale installations that families could explore, play within and help bring to life. The free event welcomed approximately 600 visitors, making it AIA Coastal Virginia’s largest event to date — and attracting a lot of media attention.
Pop-Up City grew from the annual Pop-Up Parks initiative, which WPA has helped lead since its inception. Each installation uses temporary design to activate public space, invite participation and demonstrate what can happen when a community builds something together.
WPA’s contribution, the Beep Beep Bubble Wash, reimagined a drive-through car wash as an accessible, interactive experience. Visitors selected handmade cardboard vehicles and traveled through a wide passage filled with rotating “washers” and smoke bubbles.
WAVY interviewed event organizer and WPA architect Brittany Raffin for a story that was syndicated by MSN, AOL and Yahoo and described the Bubble Wash as “whimsical and fun.” 13News Now highlighted Pop-Up City as an opportunity for children to connect creativity with architecture, engineering and future careers.
The installation began with a collaborative sketch session that led to cutting, folding and assembling approximately 50 sheets of cardboard. Designers adapting the design as material limitations, heat and wind presented new challenges, providing visitors with a glimpse into how designers work.
The event leadership team included Bernadette Keplinger of AIA Coastal Virginia, Tony Lin of Hanbury, Jonathan Hiser of PFA, and WPA’s own Sharon Manana and Brittany Raffin, working alongside Jeanne Evans with CBDA, Christopher McKnight with the City of Virginia Beach.
The six participating firms — WPA, HBA, Clark Nexsen, Hanbury, Dills Architects and Moseley — spent months imagining, designing, and constructing their cardboard builds. Forty additional volunteers supported event operations and activity tables, and another 43 worked directly with the firm build teams.
STEAM partners provided learning experiences around the displays. Heartland Construction, ECS, Pennoni, Bon Secours, SMF, HRSD, AECOM, Silaw Lighting Design, artist Jo Majette, teachers from VA Epsilon and representatives from ATC ran activities. MEB led the Kids Build Zone alongside volunteers from Hampton University and Virginia Beach high schools, giving kids a space to engage in hands-on building. Batchelder & Collins donated concrete blocks that kept the cardboard standing when the wind picked up.
More than 430 votes were cast by attendees and the WPA installation received the event’s People’s Choice Award. But the greatest success was creating an experience where visitors could participate and build together. As Sharon Manana, Director of Community Engagement at WPA, explained, “Our mission is strengthening community through a collaborative design process. That was this. It’s our mission in real life.”
