Off the Hook - IDSwest

URBAN CHESS BOARD
Off The Hook Exhibition, IDSWEST, Vancouver, 2009
We strongly felt that a used and discarded phone booth should be given back to the public realm in a new form. A bench in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, on the corner of Hornby and Robson, has long served as an impromptu site for public chess games. We saw this design exhibition as an opportunity to provide a public chess board, akin to those that exist in similar public places elsewhere - notably, New York's Washington Square. While our design may not end up at Robson Square, it allows us to at least imagine Vancouver having the same kind of public amenity as other major cities.