From May through March 2016, Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge occupied an empty lot at 632 Jackson Street, creating a temporary hub space, that together with other temporary occupations in South Philadelphia, interrupt the demands of daily life through play, inspiring and producing new socio-spatial imaginaries and political subjectivities.
Cohabitation Strategies collaborated with a variety of neighborhood partners in a participatory pilot project that activates playful ways of critically thinking land occupation, gentrification, environmental restoration and housing through participatory design, while inspiring cross-cultural communication by generating knowledge exchange through performance, construction and dialogue.
Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge is a project by Cohabitation Strategies with The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program’s Restored Spaces Initiative. Curated by Lucía Sanromán. Project Manager Shari Hersh. Major support for Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. For more information, visit: Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge website.
Photos by Steve Weinik, Action 1, 632 Jackson Street, Philadelphia.
COOPERATIVE TEAM
Founders: Lucia Babina, Emiliano Gandolfi, Gabriela Rendón, and Miguel Robles-Durán
Project Team: Larissa Begault, Mariana Bomtempo, Julia Borowicz, Heidi Chisholm, Troy Hallisey, Juan Pablo Pemberty, Beth Uzwiak and Lee Wolf
Entities: 7th Street Civic Association, AAU Summer Program 2015, Amuneal Manufacturing, Asian Americans United, Ballin Up Scholastics and Sports, Bethanna Community Umbrella Agency, Bhutanese Community Organization, Café Canela, Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, Cambodian Psychedelic Band, East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association, Fleisher Art Memorial, Free Library of Philadelphia, Friendly Market, Friends of Mifflin Square, High School Students, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, Independent Rock Music School, Karen Traditional Dance Group, Lower Moyamensing Civic Association, Mighty Writers, Mural Arts’ Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Program, PA Migrant Education, Philadelphia Mural Arts, Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, Philadelphia City Planning Commission, Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative, PhillyRising, Public Workshop, Puentes de Salud, Snyder Avenue Congregational Church, Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, Southeast by Southeast, Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative, TEND landscape inc, The City of Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, The City of Philadelphia Streets Department, The Food Trust, The Guild, The LandHealth Institute, The Trust for Public Land, Trash Academy, United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, and University of Pennsylvania.
