The neighborhood bench, designed with the neighborhood: a participatory design-build project

Date

2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Kansas State University

Abstract

The placement of street furniture, especially benches, can help shape and activate public space. Outdoor benches and other street furniture can contribute to a neighborhood’s “urban identity” (van Uffelen 2010). However, mass production of street furniture over the past century has led to a basic, near universal design style for benches (Olin 2017). Yet, a bench, like public art, can be designed to tell a story and reflect a neighborhood’s unique character and visual identity. Thus, this project asks, how can a participatory design-build process inform the design and fabrication of a custom bench for a neighborhood? To inform the development of the participatory design-build process, the Ivanhoe neighborhood, in Kansas City, Missouri, was selected as the focus site. In working with a focus group of neighborhood residents, three participatory workshops were held to inform the design of a custom bench to be located in Jim Nutter Park. The workshops were collaborative sessions where participants expressed their thoughts and stories about their neighborhood; provided guidance and feedback and on preliminary design concepts; and expressed opinions about design details including overall size, materials, and colors. Guided by this feedback, a custom bench was fully designed and fabricated to reflect the focus groups’ ideas. Reflecting on the overall process, a replicable participatory design-build guide was then developed for use by other designers, artisans, and craftspeople in future custom bench projects.

Description

Keywords

Participatory design, Bench design, Outdoor seating, Street furniture, Bench fabrication

Graduation Month

December

Degree

Master of Landscape Architecture

Department

Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning

Major Professor

Jessica Canfield

Date

Type

Report

Citation