R A F

2008-02-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

16 months later

2007-05-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

R A F : Reprogram or Activate Function
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Public loitering device

Intervention during the CITY BREAKS? event, Liverpool, October 2006

Public loitering device sites
Intervention started during the CITY BREAKS? event, Liverpool, October, 2006

In Liverpool, many common lands, vacant sites demolished by the Second World War or by factory closings, are delimited by identical wooden barriers. These barriers limit access, create boundaries, and suggest that these sites are made to be looked at, but not to be used. While documenting these repetitive elements, I saw some that were burnt, torn apart and sawed, by residents, perhaps to give access or maybe to protest their presence?

These vacant land-separations in Liverpool reminded me of similar structures in my home town of Montreal surrounding derelict land or parking lots which have also gradually replaced demolished and burnt down industrial buildings. In Montreal, however, these barriers had flat rather then triangular surfaces, offering occasional, informal and unusual seats. Near my loft in an old warehouse district, they often serve as temporary seats in an area where there is very little urban furniture, public parks.
In Liverpool, the triangular positioning of the wooden barriers make them on the contrary very uncomfortable and impossible to use. These subtle anti-use design tactics, more and more frequent in many cities, are often invisible until the moment we decide to use a specific element or space, before discovering is impossible. One thing that surprised me in Liverpool was the scarce number of seats in the city and how existing, official and elaborate ones where placed in the least inviting, intimate and desired spaces: on a slanted slope, on windy sites... with high visibility but little comfort or intimacy.
The objective of this bench project or public loitering device is to bring to these barriers a new and non-desired use. This project explores the potential of punctual, minor tactics for the creation and activation of public spaces which necessitate little investment on a municipal level, and instantaneously adapt to changing realities.

2007-05-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Installation : Gabriel, Martin and Jean-François - October 2006

Site 01 - Forrest St York

Site 02 : Great George Street

Site 03 : Duncan Street

Site 04 : Prescot Street

Site 05 : Russell Street

2007-05-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Future possible site : newly demolished abandoned flats

Photos by Martin - November 2006

2007-03-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

Site 08 - Dorothy Street and Wavertree Road

Images by Manray Hsu - October 2006

2007-03-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

Site 08 - Dorothy Street and Wavertree Road

Installation by Martin Wilson - January 2007

2006-11-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

Site 06 : LIDL parking lot

Installation and photos by Gema and Martin - November 2006

Site 7 : student houses below the Anglican church

2006-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Future possible intervention sites :

Russel and Brown streets

2006-11-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Acronymia project R A F : Reprogram or Activate Function
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Bench it !

Have a similar barrier structure close to your living or working space where you or someone might want to sit or stop for a moment, smoke a cigarette, enjoy the view, relax during your coffee break, or just loiter. Want to install your own bench? Four bench kits are presently available, free and upon request, at the Fusebox - the Biennial Information Centre in Liverpool. They are available for residents to propose and activate their own specific site.

The bench kit include : four 40 cm pre-drilled triangular cedar wood pieces and 12 screws. For installation, all you need to do is screw the pieces on both sides of the existent wooden structure, preferably with an electrical drill (see existing examples).

In exchange for this bench kit participants are asked to submit an image, the address of the chosen location, and are encouraged to send a comment. The information can be sent directly at www.liverpool08.cc

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