Undergraduate Interior Environmental Design students from Design and Craft at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design are currently gearing up to participate in Dundee’s first PARK(ing) Day event on Friday 20th September. 

PARK(ing) Day is an annual global event where citizens, designers, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform car parking spaces into public places. PARK(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco interdisciplinary art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park.

Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with companies and individuals creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world. In 2011 for example, PARK(ing) Day involved simultaneous creative action in 162 cities leading to 920 parking space interventions on 5 continents, each reclaiming the street for social engagement – just for one day.

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban green space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat.

Around 70 Interior Environmental Design students from 2nd to 4th year will be working in teams to take over six car parking spaces around the University of Dundee campus and on Perth Road, where they will reinterpreting the private interior in the public exterior, through a process of designing and making. The students have been developing their ideas over the past two weeks, and on PARK(ing) Day the public will have an opportunity to engage with interventions within parking spaces with themes ranging from ‘We’re Here to Make You Smile’, ‘RE(cycle)’, ‘Cityscape’, ‘Play Don’t Park’, ‘CAR(nival)’ and ‘Share Fly Connect’.

Interior Environmental Design Course Director Andy Milligan says, “we’re responding to industry in delivering short ‘deep-dive’ projects that better reflect the pace of creative practice. The project also embodies new thinking linked to a proposed new interiors Masters in ‘Design for Social Environments’. The Interior Environmental Design department will gradually expand the PARK(ing) event across the city in coming years, putting DJCAD and Dundee on the global map. We are really grateful for the support of Estates and Buildings at the University of Dundee, Dundee City Council, and also Rebar, San Fransisco for launching such a unique initiative.”

Below: PARK(ing) Day 2011 in San Francisco by STUDIOS Architecture with Holmes Culley & Chris Chalmers

Visit Dundee PARK(ing) Day locations on Friday 20th September located in the DJCAD, BSI and Coyle’s car parks within the University of Dundee campus, and Perth Road outside DJCAD for fantastic photo opportunities.

For more information contact Andy Milligan: a.milligan@dundee.ac.uk, or visit: DJCAD Interior Environmental Design on Facebook,  Twitter,

PARK(ing) Day Website: www.parkingday.org