Design Museum Presents a Sneak Peek of Street Seats

Tuesday evening, representatives from Design Museum Boston set up a sneak peak of one of their new exhibits, Street Seats: Re-imagining the Public Bench, at the W Hotel as one of the many events taking place during Boston’s ArtWeek. The art project is a result of a collaboration of architects, business firms, and artists from all over the world designing new and interesting public benches for Boston sidewalks.

Design Museum Boston is “a new kind of museum,” as their website puts it. According to the Public Relations and Marketing Manager of the W Hotel Boston, Alison Tomisato, they represent “what’s next”: design without walls. Tomisato was especially excited to host their Street Seats event, saying W Boston’s mission is “to make sure we’re part of the local community,” and the occasion was a great opportunity to get professionals together to experience this one-of-a-kind art project. She also felt W Boston was a perfect fit for the architecturally driven event because of the building’s unique construction, courtesy of architect William Rawn.

Throughout the W’s bar and lounge, Design Museum Boston displayed four models of benches that are currently installed in Boston’s Fort Point Channel. Ranging from ultra modern, sleek designs to rough, rustic wood, these benches are a far cry from their graffitied brethren on Commonwealth Avenue. My personal favorite, Strataform, curves up from the ground until it hangs over the grass as though it has just sprouted from the earth itself.

This project first intrigued the Assistant Project Manager of Street Seats, Jenna Goldblatt, because of her background in product design. By the time she received submissions of artists’ bench designs from 23 countries and 24 states, she was completely engrossed in it. Goldblatt offered a little a tip: take a tour through the seats at night. She said it is a “totally different experience going during the day and at night” because at night beacons of color-changing lights illuminate the spaces around the benches. By visiting this website on their smart phones, visitors can change the color of the beacon at the nearest bench to create whatever mood they feel fits best. Goldblatt was sure to add that, of course, it’s a beautiful exhibit during the daytime as well.

With all the creativity buzzing up and down Comm Ave, a public seating project like this one seems like just what the terrier ordered. Who wouldn’t want a pretty new bench to study on in the middle of this urban campus? Besides, as Design Museum Boston puts it, “Design brings communities together.” After the unveiling of a beautiful new mural outside of CFA, a new public seating project sounds like a great next project and the perfect collaboration for art and business students.

Design Museum Boston offers guided tours of Street Seats October 5th and October 19th at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. For more information about this art project and more, visit Design Museum’s website, and to learn more about ArtWeek in boston, click here.