Outdoor Living Room
Variations on standard street benches and tree planting details become a way to explore ways for people to meet and talk, see and experience a small actively used public square.
The sculptural assemblage of four park benches and three trees uses standard streetscape details of nearby park benches and street tree plantings.
The benches - two colliding, one with a tree growing through it, one re-configured back to back like a Victorian love seat - provide intimate places to sit and converse near a bus stop.
At first glance the park benches seem completely ordinary, fitting naturally into the surrounding area. With close observation and use the simple shifts are discovered, offering new ways to experience and socially engage with this public space.
Site: Union Square
Somerville, Massachusetts
Sitework:
JF Whyte Contracting Co.
Landscape Architect:
Mark Flannery
Somerville Arts Council Project Manager:
Cecily Miller
