@ New Haven Porchfest
Saturday, Sep 13th, 2025
‘The one-day festival was an engineered, but still loose enough to stay spontaneous, celebration of these chance encounters. As the mid-September sun hearkened back to warmer days, over 50 bands lured neighbors out of their houses and onto the sidewalks, where they could mingle and feel like part of something larger than themselves.’
— Jisu Sheen, 50 Bands Spark Chance Encounters At First-Ever East Rock Porchfest, Main News, New Haven Independent
In the summer of 2025, the Lawrence Street Plaza became a living hub. Invited by Goatville Salvage, we continued our design journey with a familiar, humble hero of the urban landscape: the found pallet.
Our design served as the performance backdrop for the music festival New Haven Porchfest. But as the final notes faded, the installation began its second life: a modular system of street furniture designed to be rearranged, sat upon, and reimagined by the public.
Over days and nights at Makehaven, dozens of hands joined ours to transform reclaimed pallets into urban furniture—We heard stories, we shared tools, and we watched a neighborhood bond through the act of making. By guiding neighbors to create alongside us, the community transitioned from observers to owners. We believe that people protect what they help build.
New Haven Independent Article Page
Street Furnitures at Lawrance Plaza
Making Process
@ Brookesvale Festival
Saturday, Sep 27th, 2025
On a definitive Saturday in autumn, our modular street furniture traveled from the Lawrence Street Plaza to for the Hamden’s Brooksvale Park Fall Festival. Invited by our longtime collaborator, Joe DeRisi of UrbanMiners, the Hamden Recycling Coordinator, we joined a collective of visionaries exploring the beauty of material circularity.
Seeing our pallet-based designs alongside textile and clothing reuse initiatives sparked a beautiful parallel: much like a pre-loved garment, these wooden modules are being "re-tailored" by the community.
As festivalgoers paused to sit, draw, and linger, they added a new layer to the work. The furniture didn’t just host people; it became a canvas. These pieces now return to Lawrence Street Plaza transformed—no longer just a stage, but a communal diary layered with the art and connections of the Hamden community.