Andersonville Parklet is Chicago’s first parking space park, or “people space” as they’re calling it, and hopefully the first of many. The urban oasis took over two parking spaces at Clark and Farragut and will serve as a green retreat in the dense commercial district of Andersonville. The park’s amenities include an herb garden, native Illinois plants, built-in benches, bike parking, and a planted hill for lounging. Moss Design led the design efforts and helped raise money for the park through a Kickstarter campaign and received additional funding from the Andersonville Development Corporation.
“We wanted to design and provide much needed green space for the community, which is all too often missing from urban living. My experience with PARK(ing) day has been that people really love to have a place, the more random the better, where they can stretch out and enjoy the day,” said Matt Nardella, principal architect at Moss. “I think it will create a friendlier environment for pedestrians and cyclists that will help small businesses and everyone else. The art of sitting and doing very little is essential to our health.”
The parklet’s features were fabricated by Demeter Millwork and clad with recycled HDPE panels (made from recycled milk jugs) donated by Loll Designs of Duluth, MN and Intectural and the native perennials came from Gethsemane Garden Supply. Weather in Chicago is not as temperate as some other cities who are building parklets, so the Andersonville oasis will close in November to be reopened in the spring.
Images ©Moss Design
