Ping pong hurrah

By Dagmar Hoogland

Londoners are in for a treat this summer. The treat of an outdoor extravanganza of table tennis in the street.

100 table tennis tables have sprung up across this capital’s most visible spaces including squares, landmarks, offices, train stations, community locations and even airports, all with one purpose in mind; to make people play. Play a game on your way to work, during lunchtime or perhaps give that 5pm meeting another spin, it’s there for you to jump in.

Ping! has been created as a partnership between the English Table Tennis Association and Sing London, the participatory arts organisation that produced last year’s Street Pianos Project with artist Luke Jerram.

And it’s free. All equipment will be provided with each table, with bats bearing the request to: “Please put me back”.

As well as challenging your neighbor, or any stranger in sight, to a face to face ping pong battle, there are also master classes, competitions and round the clock activities including coaching sessions, beat-the–robot contests, Singles For Singles, Surreal Ping Pong at the Barbican and much more.

You can find your nearset table on this map and follow Ping! on facebook and twitter to get all the latest information.

Ping! isn’t the only initiative that harnesses the secret the powers of ping pong; designer Oliver Bishop-Young has created a table tennis table in a builders skip! It is an interactive part of an event where a part of central London will be transformed into an urban orchard and community garden. The work is a continuation of a series of uses for skips around the city. Check out the urban garden and his fantastic ping pong table here

Whatever your city, ping pong has to be one the best games to play; fast, fun, flexible with space, so… Go! Point! Game! Match!

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

contribute

become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me