Just a few decades ago, clients were discouraging designers from providing comfortable resting spots in NYC's parks. For a crop of new public spaces, designers are dreaming up fanciful park furniture that beckons people to stop and stay a while.
"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," observes Lisa W. Foderaro.
"Architects and park officials say the trend has gained momentum as the city has reclaimed its waterfront and turned forgotten public nooks into plazas. The drop in crime and the lower profile of the city’s homeless population were also contributing factors."
Read the full story: Designers Stretch Out Imaginations on Park Benches
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A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
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Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello