The Urban Parasol is an adaptable, modular and interactive urban structure that generates energy-efficient solutions for revitalizing outdoor public spaces.

Winner of the Living Labs Global Awards: Cities Pilot the Future, hosted by Citymart. Selected by the City of Paris, 2013

Featured in Fast Company and The Guardian

The challenge: How might we enable outdoor urban spaces to be enjoyed year-round in any climate, no matter how hot, cold or unaccommodating the weather?

Outdoor spaces - streets, plazas, parks, parklets, sidewalks - that are bustling with people and activity during the temperate months, turn unaccommodating during the winter and summer months, which bring cold, wind, rain, snow and heat. Furthermore, public spaces that are underutilized throughout cities have enormous potential to generate social and economic activity and create safe and comfortable places for citizens and tourists alike. 

Cities are increasingly looking for sustainable alternatives to the outdoor patio heaters that emit extremely high levels of carbon emissions (and which are increasingly being banned). 

The process: My role on the project was creative director and project manager. The idea started with a personal vision and challenge - I wanted to be outside in any weather and be comfortable during NYC winters. I identified the key skill sets and capabilities needed to bring this concept to life, and formed a team of architects, mechanical and electrical engineers, and solar energy experts.

The main principle was to do more with less, and since this was such a novel idea, the spirit of the process was one of an open and curious mind to understand how function informs the design form, and vice versa. In order to do more with less, our aim was to harvest, store and convert the maximum amount of solar energy required while having the structure use minimal materials and dimensions to enable it to be lightweight and modular. 

Through a collaborative and iterative process, we had an initial meeting with all participants to review and understand the design parameters that would suit a public space in a dense urban environment. We came up with an initial prototype design, then integrated the feedback and insights of the engineers, reiterated the design, and so forth until we came to the final design. 

We developed the concept over several months, in parallel to preparing a submission for The Living Labs Global Awards, hosted by Citymart, which invited 22 cities from around the world to solicit solutions for each of their unique challenges/problems. Paris chose the Urban Parasol among hundreds of submissions as a viable and innovative solution to replace the propane heaters used in over 10,000 outdoor cafes, restaurants and bars.

Learning: The key learning was that it is imperative to build trust among the team members at the very beginning - to be open to listening to one another and incorporating feedback and insights in service to the highest vision. I also learned how much I love the process of conceiving a vision and bringing incredible people together to develop it and bring it to life.