The Power of Public Art : Designing Funky Benches in Copenhagen
Studio Jeppe Hein - Blue Modified Social Bench
Starting on my first day of work as a project architect at Studio Jeppe Hein in 2012, I was assigned a project to design thirteen benches for permanent installation in Copenhagen, Denmark. The city commissioned Studio Jeppe Hein to create a visual connection that draws visitors from the Kastrup metro station to the new Den Blå Planet aquarium. Jeppe Hein had already established his concept of the Modified Social Bench in previous projects, explaining that the "bench designs borrow their basic form from the ubiquitous park or garden bench, but are altered to various degrees to make the act of sitting a conscious physical endeavor."
With this concept in mind, we started with the above concept diagram, wanting the series of benches to appear as if they were a single continuous bench that undulated below and above ground, a playful form taunting visitors to interact while pulling them in the direction of the new aquarium.
Design Proposal
For me, the most important goal of the project, titled Blue Modified Social Bench, was to create public spaces that allow passersby to "sit down and relax, but also promote conversation between users and viewers, visitors and locals." I believe that is the most essential purpose of public art, to create an unexpected encounter that transports you into the present moment and encourages dialogue with fellow community members. The final designs are mapped out in the plan graphic below, as well as a couple renderings we included in our final proposal. Though some benches were shifted around and altered between the proposal and construction, the diagram gives you a good idea of how the designs connect visitors along the path from train station to aquarium.
Completed Installation
Finally in June of 2017 I was able to visit the completed benches in person and have some fun posing for the photos below. The best part of seeing this project come to life was watching the community interact with the benches (and each other) in clever and unexpected ways, beyond our design intentions.
Let me know below which is your favorite (or least favorite) bench!
This is awesome! You created benches that are more like a playground, the kind of thing any child would start climbing onto without a second thought.
I love the first picture with the guy reading while laying back on the bench... cool stuff. Although hopefully the bench was clean when he did that lol
Thanks @heymattsokol! You're right in calling these playgrounds. Every time I've visited these crazy benches in person, children are climbing all over them and using them as slides and jungle gyms.
@heymattsokol
I'd be climbing all over these even as an adult, that's for sure :).
This is such an amazing project, looks like you had some fun with the photoshoot ;)
My favorite bench is the spaghetti tangled one... that must had been complex to model in rhino and I can't imagine how it was fabricated...
Thanks @voronoi! Most of the curved pieces are just aluminum extrusions bent at specific radii, but for the more tightly curved pieces (like in the spaghetti tangle above) we had to water jet the profiles and build each of the four sides manually. Though a lot of the fabrication for Jeppe Hein's work is done in house, the benches are sent out to a fabricator that can handle this sort of complex metal work.
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STOPThese designs are playful and pleasing to the eyes. It certainly will get users in their hundreds. Nice concept and finishing, I think I like it all.
Thanks @ejemai!
DOOOPE!
Thanks dude!! Hope you got to see the ones in Brooklyn Bridge Park when they were there.
This is awesome :). I love it.
I was in Copenhagen three or four times already and unfortunately I didn't stumble upon these awesome benches, otherwise I'd surely put in some "monkey business" on them.
Were they installed only in June 2017 or were they there before?
Also, could you give me a more specific address or part of town (eg. Norebro) as I'm sure to go to Copenhagen again in the future.
Thanks @designthinking! The line of benches starts at the Kastrup metro station and leads to the Den Blå Planet aquarium. They are one station away from the airport, so very easy to get to but not something you'd stumble upon walking around the city center. They were installed back in 2015. Hope you can see them next time you're in Copenhagen!
Thank you @erb
I'll make sure to post some pictures with some funky poses when I find them. And then I'll share them with you, the creator :).
and yeah, the area on the way to airport is something I did not explore at all. I was always to the other side and north.
This is awesome ! Followed as a sndbox member :)
Thanks so much @vitruvianman!
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STOPThis project is fantastic. I love the playfulness of the forms and the chosen blue aluminum is beautiful. Love when an the design of an object or piece of infrastructure makes you question its "inherent" function. My favorite are the looped benches :)