UK bespoke street furniture supplier of contemporary street furniture benches, steel bollards and cafe screen systems.

One of the themes that has been running through much of our research is the make up of social groupings within the urban environment. We are interested in this because there is a clear connection between the physical environment and the nature of the relationship that its occupants enjoy. The photo above illustrates one of the noticeable traits More… »

Finding the fun in the street

The way in which the public use the urban environment is always of interest to us at Citysquared. We watch what’s going on whenever we are out and about, and one of the themes that’s beginning to develop within our research is the use of the street as a playground. This concept is illustrated in these series of photographs More… »

Whilst undertaking some recent research for a large transport company it occurred to me that people waiting at bus stops were often faced with a dilemma. It seems that there is a cognitive balancing act that takes place which determines where and how you wait for your bus. More… »

Traditionally, cost and durability have been the most important factors in the design of street furniture, however, Citysquared views street furniture as an opportunity to contribute to better quality public spaces and provide a positive and pleasurable experience to its users.
In the past street furniture has provided a positive experience by removing a negative one. For example, a bin allows you to dispose of any rubbish you might be carrying, whilst a bench would allow you to rest for a while. What we try to do is to move beyond simply removing an inconvenience and begin to provide a pleasurable experience to the user, in doing this we hope to create positive associations with a particular location. To achieve this we have developed an approach that transfers some of the ideas of pleasure defined by Lionel Tiger in his book “The Pursuit of Pleasure” and applied them to a street furniture context. Below is a brief outline of some of the methods we have used.
Firstly we might add to a users experience of street furniture by increasing the quality of the materials we use, thereby increasing the pleasure that can be derived from the use of an object through it’s physical properties. This is particularly appropriate when we think about the materials that users will actually come into contact with.
We might also think about how the object can help us to interact more positively with others, either within our own social group or though encouraging interaction with others.
Adding to the pleasure of use for some people might include complying with their ethical beliefs; this is particularly relevant when we consider environmental issues and the use of sustainable materials. It may also include judgement on the way in which they perceive public money to have been spent or in some cases they may feel strongly about local supply and manufacture.
The final example of creating a positive experience is the pleasure that can be derived from stimulating thought or emotion. The average person in the street has many things on their mind and drawing them out of their own thoughts requires something unusual or out of the ordinary. Often this may involve a particularly sculptural or eye-catching object or an interesting idea or concept physically manifested.
Achieving our goal of providing a positive experience to an area can often give a competitive edge to a development project. This can increase the use of an area by a targeting a particular demographic or appealing to a sense of civic pride and ultimately contribute to the economic welfare of a location. Well that’s the theory anyway, we continue to develop it in practice.