Have a Seat?
Calling all designers. The February 1 deadline is fast approaching for the Street Seats competition sponsored by Design Museum Boston. The museum, which promotes design and education through public exhibitions at various sites throughout the city, already has more than 230 entrants from around the world registered to compete. The challenge? With a focus on urban improvement and sustainability, and using recycled, reclaimed, and/or renewable materials, design a seat, bench, or any kind of sidewalk furniture to accommodate at least two people that could join standard park benches as seating along Boston’s Fort Point Channel.
All entries will be on view at Design Museum Boston’s yearlong Design Innovation Gallery at Factory 63, a new apartment complex with studio and live/work spaces on Melcher Street in the Fort Point neighborhood, from February 28 through March. The field will be narrowed by a jury of 30 people with various design backgrounds to semifinalists, who will each receive a $750 grant to construct and install their seats along the channel. Three top designs will be awarded cash prizes and honored at the outdoor exhibition’s unveiling April 27. Through October, self-led and guided tours will make it possible to spend an afternoon viewing and testing out the innovative outdoor furniture. A sign and QR code for each seat will link to the museum’s website and more information on it and the designer.
To register and submit a design and for more information, go to designmuseumboston.org/streetseats.
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Gail Ravgiala is editor of Design New England and a fan of both the region's historic architecture and its growing inventory of modern houses and public buildings.
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