REBAR

Make a parking space your new living room.

Take a nap in public space.

The above are just a few of the avant-garde ideas heard over at Rebar—a studio dedicated to art, design, and activism. Although ideas are usually based out of their San Francisco office, their projects are viewed all over the world.

Encountering a Rebar project often initiates “a double take,” for the everyday objects or ideas used in these social experiments are repurposed to spark out-of-the-box conversation.

While some may chuckle upon seeing a dozen sleeping adults in a public art gallery, others may happily join the “Nappening.” Just imagine a group of business men jumping into a pile of Bushwaffle on the town green, or a “fully-functional corporate conference room submerged seven feet into the desert floor.”

No need to imagine.

This is reality.

Rebar is challenging routine and questioning monotony.

Among the most successful is Park[ing] day, which transforms “temporary public open space in a privatized part of town.” Initiated in 2005, a parking space in San Francisco was temporarily remodeled into a makeshift park—complete with grassy knoll, park bench and supple sapling, providing refuge for pedestrians meandering along the city’s busy streets.

While some may think the space unconventional for rest and relaxation, “more than 70% of San Francisco's downtown outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle, while only a fraction of that space is allocated to the public realm.”

Why not integrate the two?

And so, Park[ing] day has become an annual tradition—from California to Tehran. It is a time when vibrant green blades of grass overtake mundane gray strips of concrete.

A time when people around the world take a much needed break.

On a bench.

In the street.

Please visit rebargroup.org for more information.

(Rebar is redefining urban space.)