Community Engagement

Our civic engagement team conducted interviews on-site at Cooper Triangle and Cooper Square, gathering opinions, both positive and negative, related to the space as it stands. These pieces of feedback greatly informed our early proposals, providing insight beyond what one could observe oneself. Additionally, we propose placing QR codes in the space that will link to a survey ,allowing us to gather feedback based on an interest to see the space changed by those who are currently engaging with the Triangle and Square. 

 

Interviewing Process

Before going out to interview the people in and around our space, we created questions that the group believed would be informative of how people felt, knew, and what they thought about Cooper Triangle and Cooper Square. Additionally, we wanted to understand what an ideal public space meant for each individual to help shape the way that we designed and programmed our area of focus. 

 

What We Learned from Onsite Public Engagement Interviews

From onsite interviews, with members of the public during various times of day, we gathered critical information about how to successfully design and program a space that is responsive and inclusive to the diverse needs of the surrounding community and passerby of the area. 

 

Generally, public feedback was in line with our initial proposals of incorporating more greenery into the space (ie. flowers, bushes, trees, vines, etc.) to provide a respite from the city, taking the fence down to make the Cooper Triangle space more inviting, adding more moveable tables and chairs to permit user agency, fixing existing benches to accommodate the unhoused as well as others, replacing existing concrete blocks in the Square with more usable benches, and including programming for seasonal activities run by local organizations and businesses (ie. Christmas tree lighting, music, ice shaving, etc.) but some suggestions surprised us: 

 

One interviewee, a fairly young Hispanic and Latino man who bikes around the city to deliver food, suggested adding more signs telling people not to litter in addition to opening up the space to vendors/small businesses to bring in families. This led us to propose incorporating signage and bike racks into the space. 

 

Another interviewee, a college student from Illinois that was visiting the city to see a friend, suggested implementing interactive QR codes to enable people (whether passersby of the space or long-time residents) to learn about the history of Cooper Triangle and Cooper Square in addition to the vibrant surrounding neighborhood. This, he believed, would give users greater agency over their experience in the space, so we incorporated this idea, and added a set of historical exhibits into our proposal accordingly. 

 

Finally, there was public desire for both drinking fountains and for a water feature that would provide relaxing noise and that might permit children to play and adults to cool themselves.

 

Our Interviews Contributed to Our Design, Programming and Implementation Proposals
In the continuation of this project, we aim to create QR codes that are both interactive, as suggested, and that engage users in the evolution of the  design and program, through the collection of user feedback via a Google form. In terms of design, we aim to add additional drinkable water fountains and possibly a regular fountain and/or small pond in response to public desire for water features. Lastly, we aim to further investigate the possibility of widening the seating and greenspace of Cooper Triangle and Square and narrowing the space dedicated to hard walking/biking surfaces, to make space for additional design elements and program initiatives that otherwise would go unrealized due to existing limitations in space.  In the future, we would hope to engage with local organizations to create a robust and ongoing civic engagement process that would give stakeholders and residents of the East Village agency in the redesign of Cooper Trapezoid.