PARALLEL PARKS

An excerpt from a piece of my writing

Because our contemporary urban cities are so multi-contextual and have such a wide range of populations, cultural attitudes and age groups, our parks need to accommodate this and offer a variety of programmes that cater to a diverse demographic for the city. It has become apparent through conducting this research that more contemporary parks which have begun to engender multiple functions and programmes, such as Waitangi Park and Cobblestone Park, are seen as successful examples. Whereas, ‘parallel parks’ that only offer one programme, like the Massey Memorial and Fort Ballance, are seen as only having a singular function, offering little diversity and use to the society. Most designed urban parks that offer only a singular function or programme are beginning to fail, as seen with Glover Park and Te Aro Park.

Memorials have always existed, though initially their role and purpose to society was programmed for the remembrance of a particular date and time. This is largely due to the lack of physical amenities that go hand-in-hand with memorials. This purpose and function has changed over time; however, the role has morphed with society so that these spaces are often also areas for recreation, intrigue and day-to-day venture.

These sites which have been coined ‘parallel parks’, are not spaces that need to be redesigned; they exist as memorials, as fragmented ruins and cemeteries. They offer to the public a precedent of spaces that exist around Wellington as parallel versions of a more contemporary park. They have done everything a park should do, through planting grass and putting in seating, but by not engaging with anything other than typical park amenities they are not as successful as they could be.

All work displayed was undertaken by David Sullivan for individual research and field studies.