Benches – good design problem for a class

[Trace One]

“There are wooden chaises roomy enough for two. Bar-stool-style perches with river views. Communal work stations for laptop users. Huge granite slabs. Even hammocks. That most prosaic of public furnishings, the New York City park bench, has morphed into a blank canvas on which designers, landscape architects and artists have unleashed their fantasies.”

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/nyregion/with-new-park-benches-designers-find-room-to-stretch-their-imaginations.html

[Andrew Spiering]

A good design problem for a class, indeed.  Reminds me of what our friend, William H. Whyte once said:

“All things being equal, you can calculate that where pedestrian flows bisect a sittable place, that is where people will most likely sit. And it is not so perverse of them. It is by choice that they do so. If there is some congestion, it is an amiable one, and a testimonial to the place. Circulation and sitting, in sum, are not antithetical but complementary.” [via pps.org]

[Trace One]

tell, tell, Henry! Take the LONG trip out to queens and get us some pix! I remember Weintraub – would love to see the benches..

; )

[Author]

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