Page 60 - Designing Ways 271

ON THE
TERRACE

Photo credit: Qure Agency

Reinventing the Public Bench With
Photo credit: Qure Agency
Collective Motion and Music

South Bend, United States

he creators behind the Musical attachment and empathy among a group
Swings, Daily tous les jours, well beyond the moment of coming
Tare taking the concept of together.
collective motion to new heights with
Daydreamer—a sculptural series of Components & Interaction
interactive, slowly rocking benches that A set of revolving long benches host
compose gentle music and encourage a sound and sensing system. Each
synced-up choreographies. bench accommodates up to four people
Conceived to create a ritual around a and is finished in Canadian white oak,
moment of pause, the artwork stimulates with a powder-coated aluminum arch.
a communal experience in a soothing Interactive LED lights are integrated in
soundscape. the arch and under the seat to emphasise
Daydreamer benches are scalable and movement.
customisable for diverse indoor and When people sit and push the benches
outdoor settings. to rock or spin, music and light animations
are triggered through motion detection,
Can cities be built for collective merging analog and digital movements.
daydreaming? The benches rock in four quarters, or
Daydreamer reinvents the public bench, rotate 360˚ with a bit more push from
encouraging slow, rocking, synchronous the user. People may sit on the bench or
motions to bring a therapeutic quality to hold the arch from a standing position,
public space. or from a wheelchair, to make music. No
Rocking is known to induce a state of matter how people play, the mechanism
daydreaming, reducing stress and anxiety, inside the benches’ pivot centre ensures
while synchronous activity, according the motion is slow.
to different studies, strengthens social

60 Issue 271 • dw