A design called “Sail Away” is one of 13 finalists in the Seattle Design Commission’s “Holding Patterns” call for ideas.
According to the site, the commission received 83 submissions. The next steps:
The idea of this effort is not to hand out an award and be done with it. It’s also not to give out grants for projects. Instead, we’ve asked the community to think about this problem and engage with us in finding more creative ways to deal with the issue of vacant lots; something cities are faced with all across the nation.
Now that we have these wonderful ideas, we want to showcase them and make them available. We will be bringing the finalists together with people who can help them bring their projects to fruition. We hope to get property owners, developers, and City of Seattle representatives involved, to talk about what kind of support would be needed to implement these creative ideas.
Sail Away was submitted by Kristi Park. Her description says, in part:
This design will bring the beauty of sails on the water into the pits of Seattle. With spinnaker sails strung across the pits with aircraft cables and adorned with strings of lights – this design can be easily assembled and disassembled with minimal labor, cost, or permanent alteration to the site.
The sails will move gracefully in the wind. A passerby will hear the soft sounds of the fabric billowing in the wind. In the evening hours, the strings of light will enliven the space and cast shadows on the sails drawing visual intrigue.
See the entire design here.
It looks beautiful as envisioned, but I wonder will it be used as a tent city?
Asking the developer prior to project approval to post a performance bond might have been a way to deal with these problems. Put language in the approval that if the construction site becomes a pit the bond would be used to implement one of these designs until construction begins again.