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 that we regularly come across.

In the background you can see a couple seated on a bench leaning towards each other, obviously this is a very normal social grouping. In contrast to this, in the foreground, there is a much larger group of friends seated on a set of wide steps. The design of this environment provides well for both social groups. This is not always the case, the larger group would not be able to integrate as easily in areas where the traditional three seat bench is the main form of provision.

There are many other examples of how the design of street furniture products and the environment which they occupy can be informed by an understanding of the typography of these groups. We hope to post some of these in the future.

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.

You say sundial, I say climbing frame

They show both the spontaneous use of street furniture and the premeditated use of the street based play areas like those in Stevenage (not sure how much longer they will remain there though).

Stevenage intergrated street play area

There is an emerging demographic grouping that we are working on and we are begining to look at how this natural behaviour can be intergrated within specific product designs. In the meantime we will continue to collect source material and post anything that might be of interest.

I wonder if  his daughter is a hair dresser?

Whilst out and about I come across a lot of different things, occasionally, I feel duty bound to share them with you.

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. The three elements that seem to play an important part in this decision are interesting, firstly and often most importantly is your place within the queue.

Preserving your personal space

Secondly is the ability to preserve you own personal space, i.e. deciding not to sit within a shelter if you can stand on your own. And thirdly is your physical comfort, whether to take a seat and shelter from the weather. The photographs included within this post help to demonstrate how individuals will prioritise one of these elements over the other.