Rationale
The area chosen is Empress park, Hurstville. This park is conviniently located in housing area and is just about 10 minutes walk from main business area. The park includes playground, bbq pit, basketball court and soccer field. Although it has strategic location and can provide various activites, it was observed that many do not stay in the park for long. From observations and interviews, the park goers can be divided into 2 groups, the morning and afternoon goers. The morning goers are mainly the older group of people (60 and above) who accompany their grandchilds (4 and below). The afternoon goers are mainly yound adults or teenagers who play sports there. While the bbq pit is rarely used.
When I interviewed the grandparents why they did not stay for long in the park. Most of them said it was because they were tired of standing and were bored. This is probably because there are very few chairs in the park and these chairs are located far from the playground so they will not be able to keep a good watch of their grandchildrens playing in the playground. Thus, the rocking chair will be built closer to the playground which will enable them to relax while at the same time being able to watch their grandchilds. The rocking chair is also popular, especially amongst the older generation and this can encourage more people to come to the park or stay longer there. This is further supported by statistic which shows that the area has large proportion of older group of people (20% are 60 and above, compared to national average, 16.7%). The soothing and comfortable nature of rocking chair may encourage people to stay around longer and thus this provides more opportunities for them to intereact with one another.
The reason why the younger group does not stay there for long is quite similar too. Most of them said it was because the place is boring. The organic and modern design of the chair will likely interest them to stay around. There will be also a number of these chairs so they can enjoy relaxing and interacting with their friends after their sporting activities. These may also encourage more to have bbq in the area as more seats will be available and the rocking chair will make it more fun and comfortable to hang around.
This rocking chair has the potential to bring not only this park alive but other parks as well. This is because the rocking chair is enjoyed across different cultures and age groups.
The area chosen is Empress park, Hurstville. This park is conviniently located in housing area and is just about 10 minutes walk from main business area. The park includes playground, bbq pit, basketball court and soccer field. Although it has strategic location and can provide various activites, it was observed that many do not stay in the park for long. From observations and interviews, the park goers can be divided into 2 groups, the morning and afternoon goers. The morning goers are mainly the older group of people (60 and above) who accompany their grandchilds (4 and below). The afternoon goers are mainly yound adults or teenagers who play sports there. While the bbq pit is rarely used.
When I interviewed the grandparents why they did not stay for long in the park. Most of them said it was because they were tired of standing and were bored. This is probably because there are very few chairs in the park and these chairs are located far from the playground so they will not be able to keep a good watch of their grandchildrens playing in the playground. Thus, the rocking chair will be built closer to the playground which will enable them to relax while at the same time being able to watch their grandchilds. The rocking chair is also popular, especially amongst the older generation and this can encourage more people to come to the park or stay longer there. This is further supported by statistic which shows that the area has large proportion of older group of people (20% are 60 and above, compared to national average, 16.7%). The soothing and comfortable nature of rocking chair may encourage people to stay around longer and thus this provides more opportunities for them to intereact with one another.
The reason why the younger group does not stay there for long is quite similar too. Most of them said it was because the place is boring. The organic and modern design of the chair will likely interest them to stay around. There will be also a number of these chairs so they can enjoy relaxing and interacting with their friends after their sporting activities. These may also encourage more to have bbq in the area as more seats will be available and the rocking chair will make it more fun and comfortable to hang around.
This rocking chair has the potential to bring not only this park alive but other parks as well. This is because the rocking chair is enjoyed across different cultures and age groups.
