White Paper The Movable Seat - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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White Paper The Movable Seat

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Similar effects are found in Times Square in New York, the city’s Bryant Park in all seasons, and the well established Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Movable experiments are now popping up in Australian cities too. – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: White Paper The Movable Seat


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White Paper The Movable Seat
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  • Lively, enjoyable public spaces start with
    inviting places to sit. Movable chairs offer the
    option to sit in groups, in pairs, to fly solo,
    to follow the sun or shade. Deserted plazas
    become flexible, accommodating, hospitable,
    thanks to the introduction of freestanding seats
    and tables. Places are transformed.

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  • Harvard Yard, Harvard University, Massachusetts.
    In 2009 the space is a walkway for marching to
    your next class. The university decides to make
    it a gathering place where students can mix with
    the larger community, starting with movable
    furniture.

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  • The response was enormously positive, say
    Lizabeth Cohen and Mohsen Mostafavi, professors
    and co-chairs of Harvards Steering Committee on
    Common Spaces. Overnight, a vibrant and diverse
    population was pausing to meet, chat, doze,
    study, eat, watch performers, or simply sit down.

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  • The chairs hosted everything from seminar
    meetings, to the visiting Nobel-laureate
    capturing a moment of public solitude, to a
    spontaneous game of musical chairs engaging 70
    participants.

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  • Similar effects are found in Times Square in New
    York, the citys Bryant Park in all seasons, and
    the well established Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.
    Movable experiments are now popping up in
    Australian cities too.

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  • Why does movable furniture work so well?
    Respected urban theorist William H Whyte suggests
    people appreciate the power of choice.If you
    know you can move if you want to, you feel more
    comfortable staying put, he says.

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  • Whyte and his team of researchers studied how
    people use parks and plazas in New York City in
    the 1980s. They found that, given the option,
    people will almost always move a chair before
    they sit, often just a little and even if it
    doesnt seem to accomplish anything.

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  • Perhaps it is a sense of control, of ownership
    over the seat, that draws people to move it,
    mused Whyte. You move it an inch forward and sit
    down and that chair becomes yours. Do movable
    seats walk? Caretakers report that sometimes,
    yes they do, but losses tend to be minimal,
    particularly weighed against the value the seats
    bring to the space, the people they attract.
    Bryant Park loses just a few of its hundreds of
    movable chairs a year, and each chair is far less
    expensive than a fixed bench.

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  • Risk can be mitigated by the level of pedestrian
    traffic in the area, businesses that also use the
    space and so become custodians, onsite
    supervision, overnight security and the weight of
    the seats. Installing tracking chips is another
    measure.

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  • Weighed up against the enjoyment the movable
    furniture brings and the crowds it attracts, the
    balance is often deemed worth it.As the
    populations in our cities grow and urban citizens
    expect higher quality amenities on their
    doorsteps, caretakers are investing in public
    spaces to attract and retain talent and in turn
    invigorate the economy.

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  • Australians have always celebrated outdoor
    living, and as our backyards are shrinking public
    parks are becoming more agile, multi-functional
    spaces to bring better quality of life and give
    communities a chance to grow.

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  • The new Forum Seat is designed as a hybrid
    between a patio and street furniture product,
    available as fixed or movable to provide the
    power of choice.As William Whyte says, One
    felicity leads to another. Good places tend to be
    all of a piece and the reason can almost always
    be traced to a human being.

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  • Whether your felicity is people-watching, being
    part of the flock, or seeking peace and quiet in
    a perfect corner, movable seats build flexibility
    and comfort into a space. Its your seat, your
    move.See more information and specifications for
    Forum Seat.

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  • To Know More Update, Visit Us

http//streetfurniture.com/au/
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