2018-02-06 | Street Seats

Urban Benches for Vibrant Cities

Design brings communities together. Public seating sets the scene for chance encounters, people watching, connecting with nature, or just taking a break. Street Seats challenges you to design sustainable outdoor sidewalk furniture with a focus on reuse, using environmentally-friendly materials and innovative construction methods.

Street Seats is an international design challenge which will culminate in an outdoor design exhibition and walking tour around the World Trade Center Portland plaza in Downtown Portland, Oregon. Entrants will participate by designing sustainable outdoor sidewalk furniture with a focus on reuse, using environmentally-friendly materials and innovative construction methods. Design teams will record and submit their process along with their final designs to, in the end, create the public design exhibition.

Street Seats provides an opportunity to improve the visibility and livability of an urban area while being socially and environmentally conscious. Design Museum Portland invites individuals and groups from around the world to design an iconic bench, or ‘street seat,’ for the World Trade Center Portland plaza. The area is a lively destination for residents and visitors alike, with access to Portland’s major financial, government, and business institutions, as well as the Tom McCall Waterfront Park and a burgeoning tourism district.