Public benches are silent pillars of the urban and surrounding landscape, representing the collective experience of a community. When we sit on a public bench, it is ours for a moment: in solitude, contemplation, conversation, and observation. Casting aside prior expectations of function or appearance, a group of artists and designers have been asked to craft a public bench informed by personal reflection. Does the bench beckon an action? Is it informed by memory? Does it reference a specific place?

Works In Progress III is an invitation to an interior landscape where the personal and the public are blurred. By breathing new perspectives into a furniture archetype, the nine public benches celebrate the importance of individuality within a shared experience.

We invite you to sit and stay a while.

Designers on View: Brooke Intrachat, Hanneke Lourens, Mac McComb, Michael Mellon,  Alex Schofield, ORCA, Ben Peterson, Nick Polansky, Adrien Segal.