Placemaking Week

What role does make-believe play in the realm of placemaking? As children we draped threadbare sheets over the backs of ladderback chairs and ring-stained tables to transform our dining room into a secret cave, hiding from reality as were enveloped in our imaginative playground. These were our first experiences utilizing placemaking tactics to spark imagination for something bigger and better than reality was offering. Now our grown-up language defines it as “low-fidelity” placemaking prototypes. What might a dozen college students and a few faculty with big imaginations dream up with a vacant bank in a rural downtown? When memories are not tied to what is already known, the props have a greater chance of prompting belief. A stately bank, now disguised as a social design firm called Marion Design Co., is a gathering hub of community members and undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds. Found props such as a 20 oak conference table found in a second floor conference room transform into places of conversation, sparking innovation and entrepreneurship. This workshop, led by faculty and undergraduate design students will activate the audience utilizing low fidelity prompts to practice placemaking. Through a series of design thinking methods, participants will interact through imaginative play to push into the concepts of placemaking and placekeeping in a similar manner as childhood fort-building. This energetic workshop will inspire the participants imagination to transfer the tactics to their own hometowns.