Street Furniture: Hacks That Help You Own Your City

There’s never a more iconic public space than Times Square, New York and never a better designer to begin with than a TFODian! We’re talking here about what Jurgen Mayer H. recently did (September 2016) on New York Times Square – fondly referred to as the 'XXX Times Square with love' project. His team planted pink ‘X’ shaped loungers, custom-manufactured by UAP (Urban Arts Projects), in the centre of Times Square! Passers-by are seen enjoying the pedestrian plaza as never before - as they sit, lounge, relax, chat, take selfies and absorb the sights and sounds of this iconic location from a totally new perspective! (images: cover and 1)

This sharply recalls another project ‘Stair Squares’ conceptualised by Mark Reigelman where little blue tables on castors that could fit on to a pair of steps were introduced on the grand stairs fronting the Borough Hall in Brooklyn. This intervention made the stairs of this public building an inviting place for people to linger on, using the tables to eat, read or work. (image: 2)

First installed in 2011 in Utrecht city, Netherlands, these benches and tables that can be pumped up from the street surface were the brainchild of designers Carmela Bogman and Rogier Martens. These counters are embedded into the pavement and connected to a hydraulic pump which can be operated from a street-side box. Users can pump them up as per their need to the height of a seat or a table top and pump them back into place after using! (image: 3) 

'Guerrilla' public seating as this project was referred to for the unplanned and unauthorised approach it adopted, it was carried out for the sole purpose of 'reclaiming' public spaces in the city. Based on the premise that each space in a city was meant to be inhabited and used by citizens, but had somehow been taken away by systems, infrastructure or lifestyle, the project aimed to make it easy for citizens use those very spaces as they desired in the simplest and most inexpensive manner. Designer Oliver Schau wrapped bright yellow coloured flexible drainage pipes in various ways around several existing infrastructure like railings, posts and pipes to create a variety of seating around the city of Hamburg. Surely, this rather impromptu furnishing arrangement elicited an equally spontaneous response from citizens who enthusiastically made use of these attractive squishy seats that had sprouted around their neighbourhood. (images: 4 - 6) 

When an advertising project ventures beyond its brief of marketing a brand to offer people something of value, they say its target is doubly achieved. Ogilvy and Mather conceptualised IBM’s marketing strategy along those lines and ended up creating some brilliant street furniture designs. The ‘Smart Ideas for Smarter Cities’ campaign which was introduced first in London and Paris included seats, shelters and carpet-ramps in non-intrusive designs, finished in bold colours and graphics to spell out the purpose clearly. The brand didn’t just make a deep impression with its ubiquitous presence all over the cities but more by inviting citizens to use the public spaces in them. (images: 7, 8)

While this project bears some similarity to local municipal corporations roping in advertisers to perk up the look and maintenance of bus-stop shelters in many Indian cities, one is reminded more sharply of a private mattress company’s efforts to design its advertising billboards to double up as temporary beds for the homeless, which took off in cities in Pakistan as the world’s first ‘billbed’. Surely, wonders can be worked when private players become mindful of the potential outcome of their marketing gimmicks. (image 9)

The same can be said about the initiative by some Indian municipal bodies to install open air gym equipment in public parks and squares. Even if emulating a western concept, encouraging people to not just take to the streets to loiter, but even to keep fit, really paid off very well judging by the popularity these public fitness pockets gained instantly. (image 12)