Tetherball, Interactive Sculptures Coming To Union Station This Month

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 14, 2013 9:20PM

Blah Blah Blob (Image rendering via Latent Design)

Tetherball, picnic tables and an inventive take on a children’s parachute will be part of Union Station’s makeup later this month. The Metropolitan Planning Council announced the winners of their “Activate Union Station” contest Tuesday and two teams won $5,000 each for their entries, which will be on display at the station Aug. 24 - Sept. 2.

Chicago-based architectural and planning firm Latent Design will deck out the Plaza at Fifth Third Center with Blah Blah Blob! (above), a nylon sculpture similar to an inflatable play pen that will be erected over an artificial lawn on the Plaza and will host lectures and other special events. Latent Design principal Katherine Darnstadt called the project “a collective act that combines our desires to create shared public space and enjoy our urban environment. It isn’t solely defined by how it looks or who utilizes it, but instead by how well it engenders connectivity, activity, comfort and fun.”

A rendering for trainYARD.

The other winning project, trainYARD, was created by a group of local architects and is intended to recreate summer activity indoors. Separate artificial lawns will host a series of activities including tetherball, bocce and other lawn games, while picnic tables will afford passengers and others with a respite from the bustle of travel. “We are bringing the park to the people and putting it right in the middle of their daily routine,” the group said.