DESIGN WITH AFFECTION 07/22/08

Words :: Josh MacKinnon // Images :: Assaf Israel

When we think of public seating, images of stiff airport chairs, uncomfortable park benches and back-aching concrete ledges tend to enter our minds. Not only does this type of seating limit our comfort level, it also limits the ways we are able to interact with others while sitting down. Assaf Israel, an industrial designer and graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, has examined this subject at length and developed a seating system which he feels will change the way people interact in public spaces.
D&A (named for ‘Design & Affection’) public seating is a unique, multi-use, multi-functional system, comprised of four sections. The sections, two measuring 4m x 1.5m and two measuring 2m x 1.5m, have been designed in such a way that they can be arranged in 20 different configurations. Each configuration maintains the streaming of the overall system.
“These configurations create interesting landscapes of crevices and slopes where people can relax, retreat and meet,” says Israel. “This unique landscape can be adjusted to suit its environment, and this freedom of choice in how to sit makes it easier and more comfortable for users to start up a conversation, or simply sit and watch the world go by.”
Available in red, gold, orange and off-white, the production of D&A is based on rotational molding of polyethylene, covered with foam and then fabric. In mass production, 10 parts can be produced per day.
Israel plans for D&A to be used in open spaces like airports, hotel lobbies, school campuses, malls, and a variety of waiting rooms. He describes how he conceived of his design, “The formative inspiration came from sitting in nature – in one of my trips I was sitting with my friends, next to a river. Each person found himself a rock to sit on. This unique atmosphere, that you find only there, was a great inspiration.”
Israel’s D&A design won a Saphire prize from the Bezalel Academy, and citation in “Project of the Year” from Architecture of Israel Quarterly (AI magazine). He is currently working on a similar seating system for babies.

For the Full Article, Pick up Issue 9 +

Pictures:

Details:

Above :: A modular sitting system for internal public spaces. The D&A sitting system encourages interaction between people by making the public space more inviting and pleasant. It allows sitting options which vary from formal to non-formal sitting.