Public space determines the character of neighborhoods and cities. It is embedded the urban fabric and mediates the relationship between people and their surrounding landscape. Urban furniture can play an important role in offering a wide range of uses for public spaces. The design of such pieces can contribute the way people live and experience a particular environment. The ultimate goal of this course is to design, fabricate and install urban furniture to equip a vacant urban lot in Old North St. Louis neighborhood to promote opportunities for social interaction.

 

Students design and build concrete urban furniture necessary for the gathering area. This is an opportunity for hands-on experience. The pieces consider the limitations of the material in terms of strength, weight, size, etc.; learning about the material itself as well as the act of construction, assemblage and mass production, which includes methods and technology, ranging from analog to digital tools for mold making.

 

The project was executed collaboratively with Anova, a local manufacturing company dedicated to the design and production of site furnishings. Anova provided funding, materials and offered their expertise to the project.

 

Students:

 

Aldhawyan, Dhay

Cho, Brian

Huang, Qian

Lamoreaux, Lee

Lauder, Reagan

Lopez Lopez, Rolando

Qian, Zheng

Shaw, Joseph

Shripka, Eric

Strobel, Adam

Sung, Annette

Tynes, Daniel

Vizurraga, Joseph

Wang, Jing

Zhang, Hao