December 29, 2012
This playful bench was designed and developed by HIK Ontwerpers from Utrecht, the same people that gave you the slide for grown-ups outside the Overvecht railway station.
It is called Zet Die Knop Om, which means Press That Switch, and it actually emits light when you turn it on. Check that website to see the effect.
It was built in 2008, but I have no idea if it is actually in use somewhere.
(Link: Pop-Up City. Photo: HIK Ontwerpers.)
Tags: benches, HIK Ontwerpers, lamps, public space, seats, sofas, switches
February 4, 2012
As part of his ‘Aandeboom’ series, which means something like ‘attached to trees’, the Utrecht-based spatial designer Rogier Martens has come up with a remarkable design for a pop-up bench for urban parks and landscapes. Invited by the Dutch city of Amersfoort to design a temporary bench for a local park, Martens created this Tree Bench. The bench is specifically suited for festivals and other temporary situations with urgent sitting needs. The Tree Benches are made of waterproof laminated beechwood and can be easily attached to the trees using a suspension system.
(Photo: Aandeboom.nl)
Tags: Amersfoort, benches, Rogier Martens, trees
February 2, 2011
Brench? Banch? Be your inner Mowgli without falling out of a tree.
Or as creator Floris Wubben writes, all business like:
This bench is made of polypropylene, wood and lacquered metal. The wavy polypropylene is attached to the wooden branch with metal rods. As a consequence, the shape of the polypropylene is given by the shape of the branch.
There’s also a video explaining how to sit on it. It’s not clear whether his designs are actually being produced.
Link: Floris Wubben, no. 3 bench. Photo: Floris Wubben. Via a BoingBoing story about Wubben’s willow stool.
Tags: benches, Den Bosch, Floris Wubben, furniture
April 30, 2009
When mayor Vreeman of Tilburg goes to Changzhou in China next September, he will present the sister-city with a so-called Socialsofa, reports Brabants Dagblad (Dutch). The Social Sofa is an invention by local comedian Karin Bruers who wants the outdoors to be a place where people talk to each other again.
Meanwhile real Tilburgers shun the English, marketing-friendly name and call the thing ‘benkske’ (little bench).
The Socialsofa is made of concrete, weighs about 1,550 kilo, and can be illustrated using paints or tiles. The bench in the photo is one of eight placed in The Hague in October last year.
(Photo by FaceMePLS, some rights reserved. Design of this bench’s mosaic by Wouter Stips. The text reads “If You Love I Hope It’s Me.”)
