Though everything currently seems different, in the long term rather than changing anything, Covid-19 will accelerate and magnify trends already in place, the well-known British architect writes for the Guardian.
Throughout history the crises of the day have hastened the arrival of the day’s solutions – fireproof buildings, sewage systems, green parks, the automobile, he writes.
We should not expect our future to be two-metre distancing – “The last major pandemic of 1918-20 created deserted city centres, face masks, lockdowns and quarantines. But it also heralded the social and cultural revolution of the 1920s with newly built gathering spaces: department stores, cinemas and stadiums.
“What might be the equivalent hallmarks of our coming age, after Covid-19?”
Image: Norman Foster’s illustration on the future of cities, to be exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Outdoor Dining in NYC Becomes Permanent:
The New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, has made the Open Restaurants Program, which allows restaurants in the city to extend seating onto streets, sidewalks and public spaces, permanent following the coronavirus pandemic.
First temporarily initiated in June to allow restaurants to continue doing business while adhering to social distancing restrictions, the programme will now be a year-round fixture.
The scheme includes provision for extending onto sidewalks and roadways, or onto adjacent outdoor spaces with neighbours consent, heating during winter and building tents.
Three or more restaurants on a street that is closed to traffic can also apply together to expand outdoors in another option known as Open Streets: Restaurants.
Take a quick (and educational) tea break with us! Customers are invited to book in a 10-minute Zoom or Microsoft Teams chat to learn about new products. Presentations are guaranteed no longer than 10-minutes plus Q&A. Choose from: Each participant will receive a T2 gift box (optional). Book by contacting us on teatime@streetfurniture.com, or via the button below. Win a HAY clock Australian customers who book a Tea Time between April 1 to June 1, 2023 will be in the running to win a newly-launched wall clock designed by Jasper Morrison, valued at $275. Winner will be notified on June 5, 2023. Image: HAY.
Curve the Linea range with horizontal or vertical battens, timber or aluminium, freestanding or fixed to the ground, to a wall or plinth. Use standard or custom curves to realise your vision in any landscape. Our industrial designers have applied a deep understanding of material practicalities to craft the aluminium Linea Curved Seat, and timber Linea VT Curved Seat, blending form and function with our signature quality, durability and ease of maintenance. Designed in consultation with landscape architects, both products offer the ability to tailor curves to fit project requirements. The two distinct options are: Aluminium: Linea Curved Seat and Bench Innovative backrest design, available in Wood Without Worry or colour powdercoated aluminium battens. Timber: Linea VT Curved Seat and Bench Vertically-oriented, hand-cut battens featuring PEFC-certified Spotted Gum hardwood. Linea …
Sydney landscape architects and friends gathered at The Mint in the CBD on May 10, 2023 to celebrate the launch of new products and a design book with Street Furniture Australia and AILA NSW. A highlight of the evening was introducing ‘… creating a sense of place,’ a book by founding directors Darrel Conybeare and Bill Morrison, which tells the story of two young architects successfully launching their public furniture design and manufacturing business. The book will be available from July 2023 on Book Depository, Amazon and select bookstores. The Linea VT collection and Linea Curved Seat were also unveiled, providing dynamic options for curved aluminium and timber seating. The event was filled with live jazz music, delicious food and drinks, and lively conversations among our guests. We would like …
PARK(ing) Day: Don’t Stop at the Curb The international day of transforming car spots into parklets has inspired reflection this month on the value of resilient, equitable and inclusive streets – particularly during a pandemic, writes Carolina Samponaro for Lyft. Read about her observations of 2020 PARK(ing) Day. Image: Tulsa PARK(ing) Day, 2020, Project for Public Spaces. Gensler: The Pandemic May Accelerate 20-Minute Cities: Giving up the daily commute in favour of working from home may be a lasting effect of COVID-19 that leads to a push for greater service availability in local neighbourhoods, writes Ed Garsten for Forbes. International architectural, development and planning firm Gensler is focused on that sea change in how we go about our business, he writes, working with communities and automakers on how to make the …
Designing streets for kids: Released in August by the Global Designing Cities Initiative, “Designing Streets for Kids,” offers strategies and solutions to redesign urban streets and public spaces by focusing on the needs of kids and caregivers, with the goal of making streets beautiful, fun – and safe. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people ages 5-29 globally, and traffic congestion and vehicles contribute to high levels of air pollution, which is responsible for the death of 127,000 children under the age of five each year, the guide’s authors said. Many of these deaths, they said, can be dramatically reduced through kid-friendly street design. Read the Forbes article, How to Make Streets Kid-Friendly by Tanya Mohn. Image: A street in Fortaleza, Brazil, designed according to ‘Designing Streets …
What happens to public space when everything moves outside? To create room for social distancing in the pandemic recovery period, restaurants, bars and cafe tables are spilling out onto city streets, writes Feargus O’Sullivan for Bloomberg CityLab – sometimes skipping past the sidewalk and into parking spots and vehicle lanes. “The movements of these private businesses into new spaces pose new challenges about who gets to occupy outside spaces that are increasingly in demand,” he says. “Reopened parks, one of the few place to freely and safely congregate during coronavirus, are frequently packed. Many streets already have sidewalks filled with lines of people waiting to enter stores enforcing a low customer capacity. Add a new range of table service businesses to this busy streetscape, and issues about who get priority …
