CRATEscape
Parklet Oasis and Cafe
CrateSCAPE is a modular urban oasis parklet. Part urban furniture, part cafe, this micro-park fits within a single-vehicle parking space and can be installed quickly to necessarily reclaim our car-focused urban infrastructure with a human-centric sustainable space for people to connect, relax, and share a coffee amongst native grasses and wildflowers.
Construction
Capitalizing on the inherent nesting quality and individual strength of milk crates, structural modular units are created by sandwiching CNC-routed marine-grade plywood (etched to receive the crate profiles) and stacks of up to 3 milk crates. Routed plywood is used to cap crates, creating comfortable seating and table surfaces.
park·let /ˈpärklət/ nounUS
a small seating area or green space created as a public amenity on or alongside a sidewalk, especially in a former roadside parking space.
Plantings
Native grasses and wildflowers are planted in a lightweight purlite soil mixture in lined crates along the perimeter of the installation to separate park-goers from cars, reduce street noise, and absorb tailpipe pollutions, all the while providing wildlife habitat and soothing biophilic access for us megafauna in our concrete jungles.
