PACHINKO PUTT-PUTT
Meat Pallet is an award-winning collective of young artists residing (mostly) in Bushwick. We are interested in interdisciplinary works that alter common spaces into something more mysterious, magical, or provoking.
Why were you interested in participating in The Putting Lot? Does it relate to work you’ve done in the past?
We were especially excited about The Putting Lot because it is an opportunity to do something in and for our neighborhood. We were also pleased that it would be actually physically built, by us. In various configurations we have participated in other competitions (2nd place in White House Redux, 1st place in ARCHDL IV, Design Village, etc), but none of these were local, and none of these were built.
What is the inspiration for your design? How does it relate to urban sustainability?
Our design was inspired by Pachinko, the Japanese game that combines pinball and a slot machine. We thought it would be neat to expand it out to the dimensions of mini-golf. The slots or microenvironments that the ball travels through represent contemporary and possible Bushwick landscapes. Also, turning the design vertical onto a wall was an opportunity to reduce our footprint while maximizing our usable space, inviting the user to return to historic green Boswijck.
What else would you like to see in an empty space in the city?
We would love to see other community takeovers of disused, derelict private space: community gardens, playgrounds, artspaces, pyramids, pet architecture, narnia, etc.
Do you have any childhood memories or good stories about miniature golf?
Several of us are from Sacramento, CA. David, Hannah and Justin remember going to a miniature golf course/arcade called Scandia near the I-80 expressway. There is a certain magic to miniature environments created entirely for pleasure. Hannah was always disappointed when the holes lacked functionality, like a window to nowhere. Justin keeps raving about this putt-putt place called The Palms which apparently used to have giant concrete dinosaurs and palm trees. By the time Hannah moved to town it was an abandoned lot filled with busted concrete, creepy relics and shaggy, diseased NorCal palm trees. Now the lot is crappy condos, also named The Palms. Laura, who is not particularly good at golf, likes the spontaneous and accidental hole-in-ones that can happen to anyone at any time. She remembers getting a hole in one on that volcano level once, even though it is usually a par 16.
What do you hope to see at The Putting Lot this summer?
We hope to see this effort bring the diverse elements of the community together in a place to have fun, as well as to provide a vision for alternative use of abandoned space. We hope that The Putting Lot will serve as a local hangout.