Becky Walton

I know for this final assignment we should really tie into the “public art in the landscape” theme, but I have always been fascinated with how and why people come to rest, and I believe outdoor furnishings are absolutely a form of public art.  They are about comfortable seating certainly, but furnishings should also be about aesthetics and atmosphere, accenting the space they occupy and encouraging social interaction in their arrangement rather than just being a rubber-stamp standard of seating.  I was especially intrigued by the things Thomas Balsley said about the chairs slightly facing each other or pivoting to encourage social interaction. Sometimes people will stop to rest regardless of available seating like we did at Gowanus cookout or at Bennett Field.

I just finished my honors thesis on sustainable landscape furnishings.  Coincidentally, or maybe not, the honors course was called “Public Art & Sustainability.”  As I mentioned in Friday’s blog, we had to do a site analysis on a campus location, then we created a piece of furniture out of recycled materials, placed it in the space and observed people’s reaction and interaction with the space.  The red chair made out of household gutter downspouts and reused plywood slats attracted much attention and brought awareness to people about sustainability as well as revitalizing unused urban space.

The project was subsequently admitted to the Boston Public Space Invitational competition, and my partner and I have been invited to Boston to the reveal ceremony for the winners on June 4th.  Regardless of the outcome, we are very excited to be invited and have our work displayed for the mayor!

This entire past year’s experience has led me to a unique interest in both vacant urban space as well as public landscape seating.  So much so that I may find a concentration in specifically designing landscape furnishings on a site-by-site basis, tailoring the seating to the needs of the urban space.  My final blog is our entire trip in a short 90-second clip of all the various ways and places people stop to rest in urban spaces, set to the music of Mario Lucian Andreano called “Sitting On A Cloud.”

ENJOY!