Performative Park
Karim Fakhry
2008
Asphalt Option Studio | Paula Meijerink | Harvard Graduate School of Design

As a ubiquitous and mono-functional space, the Harvard Radcliffe Yard Parking lot accommodates twenty cars and acts as a placeholder for possible future development. The current space is one of many voids within the university campus that is disengaged from the urban fabric. Its location in the heart of Harvard Square and across the American Repertory Theater creates the incredible opportunity to explore the notion of programmatic hybrid and act as an outdoor extension to the theater. The concept of combining the parking lot with the experience of performance and exhibition dates back to the drive-in movie theater. In a modern twist, the fusion of parking and performance now extends beyond the limitations of occupying void to a multi-functional urban agent. Underlying this project are the multiple meanings of the word park: 1) as a parking lot 2) as a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area 3) as the action of placing something temporarily By challenging the notion of programmatic temporality, Performative Park explores these meanings spatially and programmatically. Through the manipulation of stringent parking codes, both car circulation and parking spaces are repositioned. The space now expands to the limits of the urban edges and closely interacts with the various urban buildings. The windows of the urban setting now become theatrical balconies where the audience assists from within their offices, further subverting the notion of interiorized performance and temporal use of the parking lot.