The Movable Seat

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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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