Articles
Cities sometimes surprise you. You can spend a lot of time talking about revitalisation, strategies and how to bring life back into a place. Then something simple happens that reminds you how cities actually work. In this case it was a pink piano.
If you’ve walked past Gecko Interiors in Flinders Street over the past year you’ve probably noticed it sitting there on the footpath. The piano originally appeared during Strand Ephemera before eventually finding its way into the CBD. It stayed there after a series of small “placemaking on a shoestring” ideas that came out of the David Engwicht workshops.
What happened next wasn’t planned but it does show that if you mindfully make space for people to linger and make memories, magic can happen.
Lucy Downes from Gecko Interiors tells the story better than anyone. A young Thai woman who worked at The Ville Casino would stop most afternoons to play the piano. A few weeks later a young Thai man from James Cook University discovered her playing and joined in.
They kept meeting there. Music turned into conversation. Conversation turned into friendship. And eventually friendship turned into something more. Not long after, they said goodbye to Lucy before heading back to Thailand to get married. It’s the sort of story you wouldn’t invent if you were trying to write a placemaking strategy.
But it says something important about how cities work. Places become meaningful because of the moments that happen there.
A Simple Valentine’s Idea
When Lucy shared that story with us it was hard not to smile. If a pink piano sitting on the footpath had already managed to spark a love story, Valentine’s Day suddenly felt like the perfect excuse to lean into it.
So the Uptown committee decided to run a small seasonal activation in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. Nothing overly polished. Just something fun that might encourage people to stop in the city for a moment.
Love in the CBD
We placed a set of large pink LOVE letters beside the piano and invited people to take a photo with someone they loved.
It didn’t have to be romantic. It could be a partner, a friend, a workmate, a mum, or someone you simply enjoy spending time with.
Take a photo. Tag Uptown Townsville, Malpara Florist and Touch of Salt. Share it on Instagram or Facebook. People who entered went into the draw to win a $350 dining voucher to Touch of Salt and a dozen roses from Malpara Florist. But the activation wasn’t just about the competition. It was a way to raise awareness of cool things happening in the CBD.
We also used it as an opportunity to highlight Valentine’s Day gift and experience ideas across the CBD. Restaurants, retailers and small businesses were promoted through Uptown’s channels to remind people that the city centre still has plenty to offer if you’re looking for somewhere special to celebrate.
If people were coming into the city to see the piano or take a photo, it made sense to help them discover what else was there.
Placemaking on a Shoestring
The LOVE letters themselves are a good example of the approach we’ve been experimenting with. They weren’t custom fabricated installations. They were second-hand letters we found on Facebook Marketplace. But placed beside the piano they did exactly what they needed to do. They gave people a reason to stop.
Bringing a Florist Back into the City
We also worked with Northtown Townsville to activate a pop up shop next to Gekko Interios. in the CBD in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. It meant people coming into the city for dinner, drinks or the activation could also grab flowers while they were there.
Small things like that change the feel of a street. They add colour, movement and a bit of theatre. We are working quietly behind the scenes to identify more ways to make these micro activations.
The Way Places Come Alive
What these small activations continue to show us is something David Engwicht spoke about during his visit. Cities come alive when people want to spend time in them. Not because they have to but because they want to.
A piano on a footpath. A set of pink letters. A florist appearing in the city for a few days before Valentine’s Day.
None of these things are complicated. But they create moments.
And when people stop for a moment, take a photo, share a laugh or sit down at a piano, the city starts collecting memories again. Standing there watching people take photos beside the piano, it was hard not to think about Lucy’s story.
A piano brought together two strangers who will now make a new family and always remember fondly Townsville, a pink piano and a quirky store called gekko. They will tell that story to their children and maybe someday come back to show them where their story began.
When a place starts to hold memories again, something else quietly begins to return.
