Street Furniture
Boston requests proposals for new street furniture program
The city is looking to expand its network of bus shelters, wayfinding kiosks and other infrastructure.
Where have all the public benches gone?
Public seating can be an indicator of broader trends in who gets to use public space — and how.
See Downtown Brooklyn’s Dramatic Complete Streets Transformation
A streetscape redesign spearheaded by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has quickly made many of Brooklyn’s streets unrecognizable.
Creative Ways to Activate Roofless Buildings and Vacant Lots
Pocket parks aren’t the only way to repurpose underused urban spaces.
Guerilla Urbanism Spurs Action From Cities
Rather than take a hostile approach to DIY urbanism, some cities are using guerilla efforts as an opportunity to understand critical infrastructure gaps.
Elevating the ‘Small Stuff’ in Urban Design
Chuck Wolfe recaps arguments in favor of increased attention to incidentals — from benches to bollards — in urban development practices.
L.A. Bus Stops Improved by D.I.Y. Additions
A bench is a basic bus stop amenity, but many stops on Los Angeles’ Eastside lack them. One resident took on the task of putting in benches himself.
Futuristic Public Toilets Coming to San Francisco
San Francisco's street furniture predates Google, but the city hopes a new design will bring it into the Information Age.
Innovations in Street Furniture Reflect New Approach to Public Space
After a tour of Los Angeles street furniture, Alissa Walker offers her reflections on cities' changing approach to public space.
Baltimore Bus Stop Design Leaves No Doubt
Part street furniture, part advertisement for public transit, part public art—the designers of a new bus stop installation in Baltimore call it "an obvious bus stop."
'Living Innovation Zones' Activate Public Space in San Francisco
San Francisco recently launched the Living Innovation Zones program to generate space-activating public art installations around the city. The city hopes the program will create “catalysts for exploration, innovation and play.”
Public Toilets Continue to Foil New York City’s Bureaucracy
In 2006, New York City signed contracts for private-public partnerships that would deliver a variety of street furniture throughout the city. To date, 3,355 bus shelters, 304 newsstands, and three (3) public toilets have been built.
It's Street Furniture; It's a Smart Device
Street furniture like benches, garbage cans, and bike racks are found in every city. But not all street furniture is created equal—new technology is redefining street furniture as the smart devices that run efficient cities.
Pedestrian Infrastructure in LA Neighborhood a Study in Contrasts
In Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, some locals are benefiting from public-space improvements as part of the Eastside Access project. But many nearby streets and sidewalks are sorely neglected.
Building a Better Public Bench
A session on urban furniture at the 2013 ASLA Annual Meeting in Boston traced the history of the public bench, from 14th century Tuscan civic benches to 3D modeled seating arrangements that embrace "ergonomically-sound geometries".
Dutch Designer Makes Street Furnishings Fun
John Metcalfe spotlights the work of Dutch designer Thor ter Kulve, whose creative approach to designing street furniture blends utility and playfulness with the aim of liberating public space.
Mapping New York's Informal Street Furniture
Street Plans Collaborative, a New York-based urban planning and design firm, has begun an ambitious project to map the city's informal sidewalk seating culture. The project is asking the pubic to submit entries from their own observations.
Urban Furniture That Rocks
Web Urbanist has published a fun post featuring examples of unconventional urban furniture. If you're tired of the same old boring bus benches and park picnic tables, these interactive, comfortable, and visually interesting pieces should inspire you.
Times Square "Meeting Bowls" Bring People Together
New street furniture being tested in the Broadway pedestrian zone attempts to create a semi-sheltered, intimate space in the middle of the glitz of 42nd St.
Rule to Allow More Street Furniture in Mumbai
Developers in Mumbai will be allowed to build street furniture and sell advertising space on it as part of their projects, in accordance with a new law in the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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
