Designers are attempting to make Times Square a more hospitable place with creative seating, including a “Title Wave” bench that includes books from The Strand Book Store kiosk.
While you’re sunning in the sea of people later this spring, the Times Square Alliance hopes you’ll reach down and pick up a book from the bench designed by Hive Public Space. Or maybe you’ll be inspired by “Island Collection,” plant-lined modular seating, named by Brad Ascalon, or “The Village,” podlike chairs by designer Joe Doucet.
Another design element includes “Drop Sign,” which is a teardrop-shaped sign that responds to wind and touch.
This is the first time TSA has opened up the space to designers for new solutions to seating, signs and book displays, according to Tim Tompkins, president of the Alliance. The effort is called “Times Square Design Lab.”
“To inaugurate the Design Lab, Times Square asked great New York City designers to develop innovative ideas for improving one of the world’s most iconic public spaces, building on permanent transformations, such as the red steps and the pedestrian plazas, and temporary transformations through design and public art,” he said in a statement.
The new pieces, which are meant to be seen as public art as well, will be unveiled on a yet-to-be-announced date in May.
Making an oasis in the busiest section of the city is quite a feat, so we’re eager to try them out.
Here’s what you’ll see:
