Reclaiming streets, creating community.
The Square on 21st
Location
21st St and Larimer St
Denver, CO
Date
2018
The Spark
Reimagining a street into a vibrant urban park and community hub in a neighborhood with limited green space.
Services
Urban Design · Community Engagement · Implementation
Activation · Data Collection
Client
City and County of Denver
Downtown Denver Partnership
Tough Lessons
Managing community disappointment after the pop-up’s removal.
The Square on 21st was a first, a street temporarily closed to traffic and reimagined as a neighborhood park and community hub in a part of Denver with almost no green space. There was no template for how to do this. I managed the project from concept through completion and beyond, navigating city approvals, community partnerships, design, construction, and activation with no precedent to follow. The result was a vibrant, heavily used public space that the neighborhood immediately claimed as its own, and a proof point that bold ideas about reclaiming streets for people can actually work. The hardest part wasn't building it. It was saying goodbye to it when it came down.
