Designing a collection of urban furniture - part I
A few years ago, I conceived a urban furniture collection, as always, by following a certain amount of principles, choices and guiding lines. In the next lines, I am going to expose those to you. In a follow-up on this, I will explain how the project changed after being commissioned.
Striving for some elegance
I chose for a sobre esthetic, a definitely contemporary line, noble materials alowing those “travallers shelters” to be harmoniously integrated in their environment, while having an own identity.
It’s a contemporary project for a traditional function, which I wanted to be in the continuity rather than in the negation of the past. This soft dynamic, suggesting a form of mouvement, might give the waiting a more serene dimension.
The curbed line I’ve used does recall the “Streamline” style from the 1930’s, and maybe even the 1900’s Jugdenstil, which gives the new installations a feel of anachronity and even a bit of a retro look.
Low cost
The structure is limited to the essential. The mold-less technique of “surface (de)formation” I’m known to have used in many of my designs since 1999, makes perfect self-waring structures. Those constructive elements are both structural and separative. Moreover, they offer a strong unique identity at a production cost that makes this collection fit in the “low cost” category.
The materials’ resistance, thermo-laqued steal, inox steal and securit gless is pretty obvious.
Respecting the traveller and function complementarity
The mixity of communication means is a vital sociological objective. “Integrating” a bike shelter with a bus stop for, example, certainly is a technical challenge, especially if space rentability is optimal. On the bike-shelter I designed, 4 bikes fit into 1,5 m. Beyond just allowing to hold bikes, the shelter, even empty, acts as a signal. It has this sculptural presence that contributes to the positive image of the city.
Comfort is the keyword concerning the bus stops : many seats, lights at night, timetables, an electronic system indicating how long one has to wait for the next transport to arrive, ... The esthetical and functional efforts made make the users feel respected and highlights both the environments and the public transports. Which brings mutual respect.
A complete line of furniture
The Morris Column allows to show advertisements with optimal visibility and display space rentability. It can also be made to rotate slowly or to host public lavatories. The bill-boards, the benches in the shelters and the waste receptacles are all made of inoxydable steel with a micro-ball finish, which give it the best resistance to time, vandalism, tags… The individual phone booths, or the ones integrated to the bus stops, the railings, the street lighting, the posts… all fill the line.
You might also be familiar with a previous design of mine, edited by MDF italy, which is called “The Bench”. Its shape and material allows the seating area to always remain dry, and could easily be adapted to a public bench version.
The result
The result is an effective design, with a low-cost, fast and realist construction, yet far from being austere. It is a pertinent answer to the lack of coherence our cities often suffer from. Ethics are to the spirit what esthetic is to urbanism.
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