A Model City Blog: Cars & Traffic

Our Model City project is well underway, working with sound artist Dan Jones to record children’s thoughts and hopes for the future of the city.

In support of this, we have enlisted a group of wonderful volunteers who are acting as Model City Ambassadors. These volunteers have been assisting in workshops with the young co-creators involved, and will continue to have a strong and vital presence as we work towards, and during, the installation of our Model City soundscape in February 2020.

We asked Ray, one of our ambassadors, to share his experience of our second workshop – all about Cars & Traffic, where the children designed parklets to reclaim public space and imagined futures with different modes of transport:

What a fun afternoon with the children from three Hull primary schools. Once I had been introduced to them all, we immediately got stuck in with clay with the children being given free range to make what they wanted. Talking to the children, and encouraging them with their ideas, was the brief. However, all the children taking part needed little encouragement, as they all immediately had their own ideas and worked away with great enthusiasm! Just as well, because I am not a craft person!

The second part of the afternoon consisted of small groups of the children presenting their ideas to the other children, their teachers, Dan Jones, Resolve and the Absolutely Cultured team. The subject was what to do with car parks in the future! Water parks, football pitches, a Trash Park were amongst their many ideas. The children, with encouragement, did really well with their presentations. Then it was on to the practical challenge. To build their ideas with cardboard boxes.

Calan and his Trash World © Tom Arran

This produced lots of excitement and movement around the room. I had the privilege of working with just one of the boys. He was the architect/designer and I was his builder and labourer. We constructed a 6 foot high Trash Park of the future, we then admired his creation from afar and we deemed the building project a real success. Both satisfied and exhausted, he went back to his school and I went for coffee and cake! Can’t wait for the next phase of Model City.