Skystation Sculptural Bench by Peter Newman is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Silver A' Design Award in Street Furniture Design Competition Category.
SilverStreet Furniture· 2023
Skystation Sculptural Bench
by Peter Newman
Client: Peter Newman Studio
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Street Furniture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #149050The Design
About Skystation Sculptural Bench
Skystation is an interactive sculpture that also provides some public seating. The contours of the work are designed to fit the reclining human form and encourage contemplation of the sky. The seating it provides is similar to what NASA calls Neutral Body Posture, which is the shape the body returns to when free from the influence of gravity. Skystation creates an opportunity for pause, reflection and interaction within the public realm. It is inspired by the modernist idea of form follows function. It has the incidental effect of making conversations between strangers almost inevitable.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Skystation Sculptural Bench is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Skystation Sculptural Bench is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Skystation Sculptural Bench is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Where to Get It
Public Art and Interactive Sculpture Commissions
We create transformative public artworks that merge sculptural beauty with human interaction. Our installations enhance urban spaces while encouraging community engagement and contemplation. With exhibitions from London to Tokyo and permanent works in major cities, we bring decades of expertise to each commissioned project.
Contact UsBehind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Skystation is an interactive sculpture that also provides some public seating. The contours of the work are designed to fit the reclining human form and encourage contemplation of the sky.
The seating it provides is similar to what NASA calls Neutral Body Posture, which is the shape the body returns to when free from the influence of gravity. Skystation creates an opportunity for pause, reflection and interaction within the public realm. Conversations between strangers are almost inevitable. - Dimensions & Packaging
- 4100mm x 4100mm x 675mm
- Tags
- Skystation, sculpture, bench, public art, installation, seating
- Production Technology
- Cast aluminium bronze, brushed satin finish.
Six segments were sand cast and precision cut, to align together on a stainless steel sub-structure. Assembled together on site. - Design Challenge
- To realise the design as a permanent installation required production in a material that would last a long time and was in keeping with the aesthetic of the work.
Aluminium bronze is a material used in the marine environment due to its resistance to corrosion and seems fitting in redeveloped wharf of London.
A golden disk also has a symbolic association with the sun and the sky going back to antiquity.
The colour introduces a warm tone among the cool steel that characterises the district. - Research
- Real world research was done with life size seating profiles, tested by a large number of volunteers, to be as comfortable as possible to a wide range of people lying down.
The chosen profile was then spun through 360 degrees and refined into a sculpture form.
Fibreglass prototypes of the finished sculpture were installed in various public locations. This has shown the positive impact of introducing an interactive sculpture into the pubic realm. It appeals to all ages and serves as a place-making element and encourages social interaction. - Inspiration
- Inspired by the LC4 chaise-longue, by Le Corbusier, Perriand and Jeanneret and the modernist idea of form follows function.
Looking upwards is inherently optimistic, and something akin to thinking about the future. Cognitive research suggests we do our best thinking lying down. - Project Duration
- Permanent installation at Canary Wharf, London.
- Operation Flow
- The sculpture can be used for sitting and lying down by up to 12 people. Although designed with adults in mind, children find the most inventive ways to interact with the shape.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Peter Newman, Skystation 2022
Image #2: Photographer Peter Newman, Skystation 2022
Image #3: Photographer Peter Newman, Skystation 2022
Image #4: Photographer Peter Newman, Skystation 2022
Image #5: Photographer Google Landsat / Copernicus, Canary Wharf 2022
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