“What has happened to the children who once played freely on the streets?”
This question was asked by british artist Bruno Taylor, as part of a new project to explore public spaces, and their use.
“71% of adults used to play on the streets when they were young. 21% of children do so now. Are we designing children and play out of the public realm?
This project is a study into different ways of bringing play back into public space. It focuses on ways of incorporating incidental play in the public realm by not so much as having separate play equipment that dictates the users but by using existing furniture and architectural elements that indicate playful behaviour for all.
It asks us to question the current framework for public space and whether it is sufficient while also giving permission for young people to play in public.
(This is a repost of an old blog entry that was lost due to a hard drive crash; I stumbled across it’s sorry remains earlier today)
Dear John,
There are so many things I want to apologize for - I am sorry I didn’t meet up with you last time you were in town. And I never came to visit you in Los Alamos.
But most of all, I want to apologize for not having done a better job of staying in touch with you. I did call, but by then it was too late. I remember the tears streaming as I listened to your voice - the last thing I would ever hear from you.
I have many cherished memories - my first rock climb, and how you encouraged me despite my complaints; my second rock climb, and the joy at making it to the top; 7am Saturday mornings trying to beat the rush out to Enchanted Rock; spending a week with you in Yosemite, the “homeland” for many, and yours in so many ways.
There is so much more to be said, so many blessings to be counted… but unfortunately they will have to be left unsaid.
May you rest in peace, friend.
– dominic
John William Jensen died March 6th, 2005, after accidentally setting off an avalanche while on a search and rescue educational course.
John was one of my first very close friends of recent times - a great friend, confidant, mentor and all around good guy.
They say time can heal the wounds, but I’m not so sure. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t fondly remember the time I spent with John, and more often than not I get choked up.
That’s 16 hours and 50 minutes of my day that I spent with work-related things.
Yes, it was long. Yes, it sucked. But in the end, we resolved a very large handful of very annoying problems that had bothered us for several weeks. (And caused no small amount of emotional distress on my part. Blech.)
I told my boss I would be “working” from home today. Oddly enough, I’ve done a few things. Finished some troubleshooting I was involved in, send out several emails responding to the (hopeful) resolution of the aforementioned problems, etc.
