Public Offering
2024, London UK
Knock-down park bench, made of plywood
“We spend our life, it’s ours, trying to bring together in the same instant a ray of sunshine and a free bench.” Texts for Nothing, by Samuel Beckett
Public benches keep us company during some of our more tender moments. They are where we go to idle away time in the company of strangers or sit with the sore parts of ourselves, and sometimes both.
This bench was inspired by the classic Royal Parks pattern circa 1875 and can be disassembled and moved to where it is needed. One of the most simple gestures of generosity you can offer someone is a place to rest their feet. This bench is a reminder that sometimes the first step in meeting people where they are can be inviting them to sit.
If grief is love with no place to go, then I hope you know you can sit here and bring it with you.
This project was recently displayed as part of a workshop during the London Design Festival called Made to Share, a pop-up-making space for sharing skills and appreciating small moments around us.
Public Offering Favorites Reading List:
Co-Sensing with Radical Tenderness by Dani d’Emilia, Vanessa Andreotti & GTDF Collective
Public benches: The Seat of Civilisation, article by Edwin Heathcote
Allborgarrätten – The Right to the City as a Swedish Tradition by Jan Rydén
“Benches become like porches”: Built and social environment influences on older adults’ experiences of mobility and well-being, article published in Social Science & Medicine
Sitting outside: Conviviality, self-care and the design of benches in urban public space, article by Clare Rishbeth and Ben Rogaly