In a junkyard just off 19th Street in Park Slope, 8- to 14-year-olds have been sawing, drilling and painting, surrounded by brightly colored piles of wood, rope-and-tire swings and lots of wheels. They're getting ready for Saturday's 18th annual South Slope Derby, when hundreds of spectators will cheer on dozens of kids racing their own custom-built cars down 17th Street. Every summer, KoKo NYC - the program that runs the race - organizes workshops where kids design and build their vehicles.
"In many cases, designers assert themselves by glorifying individualism and consumerism. To me, it is nature itself that takes the lead, while architecture seeks to extend it, taking its inspiration from the contemplation of the eternal."
