Urban Islands: a modular micro-park

Challenge

The centre of Rostov-on-Don has many small vacant plots left after old houses were demolished. They sit empty and fenced off. At the same time, the quality of public space was one of the first issues that brought the Urban Factory team and Urban Festival Rostov together.

The question was simple: can these gaps become small, useful parks, made with the people who live around them?

What was done

• Testing on site (2014). At the second Urban Festival Rostov, Urban Factory set up a temporary park on a vacant plot where a building had been demolished. The team built it on its own, with active residents and volunteers.
• Concept (2014). Urban Factory described “Islands of the Future”: a network of small squares across the city, a “green map” of Rostov, and standard equipment for each island — drinking fountains, information points, Wi-Fi, bicycle parking, a mobile stage, a street library.
• Co-design. The micro-park module grew out of joint research and joint design with residents. Workshops produced scale models; the final module is 3×6 m, built from plywood, with benches, tables and planted sections.
• Getting it built. At one point the project nearly fell through. Mihail Veklenko found a way to deliver it inside the existing procedures. This is typical of the agency’s role: it translates between officials, business, residents and experts, so that an idea can pass through each of their rules.

Result

The modular micro-park was installed in Revolution Park in Rostov-on-Don in 2015. It turned two years of festival work and co-design with residents into a real object in a public park.

The idea travelled further. In 2017 Urban Factory prepared an adaptation of the module for Recife, Brazil, under the name “Ilhas do Futuro”.

Numbers

• 3×6 m modular micro-park
• Installed in Revolution Park, 2015