Students from the University of Kentucky College of Design and the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s Department of Landscape Architecture recently turned an ordinary parking spot into an extraordinary gathering space during Park(ing) Day, an annual international event that reimagines how public spaces can be used. 

The UK student chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Interior Design Student Association (IDSA), partnered with Lexington’s parking authority, LexPark, to transform a public parking space on Scott Street into a small, green gathering area furnished with chairs, games, snacks and plants. 

Throughout the day, students and visitors stopped by to relax, sketch and socialize, including UK’s “Design in Your World” class that used the space as an outdoor classroom for the day, as well as visiting members of Ball State University’s AIAS chapter who were in town for the AIA Kentucky Conference. 

While Park(ing) Day is part of a global movement focused on sustainability and public space, for these students it also represented a milestone in interdisciplinary collaboration. 

“We never really had the chance to work this closely with interiors or architecture before moving to Gray [Design Building],” said Matthew McBee, a fourth-year landscape architecture student. “Our programs being right next to each other opens up so many opportunities to connect and create together.” 

Preparation for the event began in early summer, with student leaders meeting regularly to design the space and coordinate logistics with campus partners.  

“When the landscape architecture students reached out to IDSA about this, we immediately thought it seemed cool, so why not?” said Olivia Tharp, a third-year interiors student and UK IDSA president. “Plus, we hadn’t had the chance to work together yet, so this was a way for us to open that door and start building a partnership.” 

The organizers repurposed chairs and tables from the building and incorporated plants lent by Wilson Plant Co. to bring the small space to life. They also worked with UK Facilities Management, which supplied the palettes that served as a safety barrier around the spot. The centerpiece of the space was an oversized Jenga game, which the group purchased from a thrift store. Organizers invited attendees to decorate their own Jenga block that then came together to form a full Jenga tower at the end of the event, effectively becoming a built object that symbolized the event’s collaborative theme. 

“We wanted this event to be about how a variety of students built [this space] together, and the Jenga tower is a smaller scale representation of that joint effort,” said Anna Melchers, a fourth-year landscape architecture student and UK ASLA president. “We ended up with blocks from students in every major in Gray and students from outside of the building, even people outside of the university.” 

Students are excited for future collaborations and said they hope to make Park(ing) Day an annual tradition.  

“If we can do more things together, get to know one another and learn from each other, then who knows where those connections will take us,” Tharp said.

To learn more about the Department of Landscape Architecture at Martin-Gatton CAFE, visit https://ukla.mgcafe.uky.edu.

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