Pop-Up of the Day: A Portable Public Square

Slowly, the northwest London suburb of Cricklewood seems to have lost all of its favorite gathering places. The library closed in 2011, and the neighborhood's famous Galtymore Ballroom, once a de facto center for the area's Irish community, shuttered in 2008. Somehow, there isn't even a public bench.

As a way to draw attention to this problem, and offer a small and temporary solution, civic ideas agency Spacemakers has come up with a novel idea: a pop-up town hall, on wheels. Built on the back of a rickshaw bicycle, the faux-brick covered Cricklewood Town Square was designed by Studio Kieren Jones. The impromptu public square is touring the area for the month of September, hosting events in some of the area's more desolate outdoor spaces. Parking lots seem to be a particular favorite.