The Humble Public Bench Becomes Comfortable, Inclusive, and Healthy
The Humble Public Bench Becomes Comfortable, Inclusive, and Healthy 12/18/2013 by J. Green by> dirt.asla “People now want to be comfortable when they sit on a bench,” said Erik Prince, ASLA, Stoss Landscape Urbanism , in a session on urban furniture at the 2013 ASLA Annual Meeting in Boston. “It’s no longer about making benches uncomfortable for vagrants and the homeless.” In a tour of the humble public bench’s past — and its potential future — Prince, along with Jane Hutton , assistant professor of landscape architecture, Harvard University, and architect Robyne Kassen, Urban Movement Design , explained how a shift in public furniture design may reflect broader societal changes and could be leading us towards healthier, more inclusive public spaces. Prince said some contemporary benches, like the one Stoss just hand-designed and fabricated for The Plaza at Harvard University , provide a “new organization of social space” (see image above). These “more ergonomic”