As a verified n00by to web2.0 technology, I recently discovered RSS feeds and  Google Reader. RSS feeds monitor your favourite websites for updates, which you can read in your bookmarks menu or software program, much like an ‘inbox’. This means that updates come to you and not the other way around. I was revisiting some of my “starred” updates and came upon an article in Life Without Buildings blog about a guerilla bus installation in England done by Bruno Taylor.

Here is the video of his installation. The swing was set up by throwing two chains over the roof component of the bus shelter and attaching a seat. Simple. Effective. The rest of the video records the behaviour of waiting bus passengers. Some people try it, while others barely bat a lash. Others just observe, and decline the opportunity to swing. What really interested me was the man in the beige jacket who was recorded at 2:10 minutes. He seems to be taken aback yet completely interested, pulls at the chains, examines its structure, then his interest immediately stops (2:28 minutes) and he turns his back on the swing and continues waiting with his fellow passengers. The guy after him takes a few pictures then hops on the bus.

Then the swing is removed, I assume, by the creator.

Why swings at a bus stop? Bruno states:

71% of adults used to play on the streets when they were young. 21% of children do so now. Are we designing children and play out of the public realm?

This project is a study into different ways of bringing play back into public space. It focuses on ways of incorporating incidental play in the public realm by not so much as having separate play equipment that dictates the users but by using existing furniture and architectural elements that indicate playful behaviour for all.

It asks us to question the current framework for public space and whether it is sufficient while also giving permission for young people to play in public.

Bus stops are public spaces, which are prescribed  by a host of people, contracts and agreements… The result is a product that perhaps unintentionally excludes the use and enjoyment of other people who may not share the same sense of the designer. Or maybe it’s an opportunity not taken that could have actually made the shelter appealing, interesting, extraordinary. Public safety and the public purse are probably involved as well. This guerrilla action speaks across designers, architects, planners and goes right to the public, it is tangible and is an invitation to use it. It suggests that waiting for transit need not be boring. It also connects to how parks, as public spaces, support a variety of activities for a variety of users and interests.

Personally, though I find it easy to tap into my ‘inner child’, I don’t think I would need to in this case – I would love to sit on a seat and swing for a few minutes, rather than stand or sit. The journey is as important as the destination. This is true in life, but also true in the transit experience that I learned during the first Metronauts Unconference at the MaRS Discovery District this summer. Waiting for transit is possibly the worst part of using transit – apart from delays and accidents, I find it exhausting to sit, stand, walk in small circles and look at ther bored passengers. My mp3 player doesn’t help anymore! Time seems to surpass the laws of physics – waiting for 10 minutes can seem like 20!

To the Metronauts audience: when waiting for transit, what would make a 10-minute wait time seem like 2 minutes?