Yarnbombing Appears in the Block

So I've previously heard about the concept of "yarnstorming" and "yarnbombing" on various placemaking and city-centered websites, but I've never seen it manifested in reality.  I ran across the at Triangle Park on the Block in Asheville yesterday.  Just for reference, Knit the City provides the following definition:

"Yarnstorming (also known as yarnbombing): the art of enhancing a public place or object with graffiti knitting" (Or putting knitting on something unexpected in public and running always giggling wildly).

I found it an interesting way to inspire conversation and to add some texture to the built environment.  It's interesting how such a subtle effort can make you a second look at a place.  Check out the map below if you want to go witness it in person (it's the pole just south of the corner of South Market and Sycamore, on the Sycamore sidewalk).

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"Pocket Neighborhoods" Author Ross Chapin to Speak in Asheville (Nov 5, 2012)

Author of the book Pocket Neighborhoods, Ross Chapin, will host a workshop in Asheville, North Carolina on November 5, 2012 (from 6:00pm to 7:30pm) at the Lord Auditorium in the Pack Memorial Library located at 67 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.

On his website Chapin describes pocket neighborhoods as, "clustered groups of neighboring houses or apartments gathered around a shared open space — a garden courtyard, a pedestrian street, a series of joined backyards, or a reclaimed alley — all of which have a clear sense of territory and shared stewardship. They can be in urban, suburban or rural areas.

These are settings where nearby neighbors can easily know one another, where empty nesters and single householders with far-flung families can find friendship or a helping hand nearby, and where children can have shirttail aunties and uncles just beyond their front gate."

During this workshop, Chapin will offer a presentation on this topic for professionals and the general public, sharing stories of communities from around the world, their historic precedents, and the key design principles that give them vitality.

For more information see the event flyer.

This event is open to the general public.  The sponsors for this event include the Carolinas Chapter for the Congress for New Urbanism, the Asheville Design Center, Urban Times, and the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Professional continuing education credits are available for CNUa.  Credits for AIA and AICP are pending.

For more information about this event contact Josh O'Conner via e-mail josh@localplan.org.