Client: JBG Properties c/o Andrew Griffin head of the creative department.

Overview

Public benches and tables for downtown plaza. Yellow Ribbon benches and Red Crab benches for everyone in the historic NW, Washington DC, Shay neighborhood, to sit, eat, work, rest, and play. My designs for up-cycled steel I-beams and heavy duty rectangular tubes left over from construction of the buildings. We intentionally made public benches to be useful for laying down on, and skateboard friendly, and resisted the prohibitive “hostile architecture” trends. Thinking yearly retouching is an investment for more and better community interactions on the site.

Goals

Utilize industrial scrap steel in creative ways to create unique public seating and bicycle parking. Highlight creativity on both sides of the street connecting the two city blocks with strong design elements.

Process

Due to my sustained involvement creating public artworks in Takoma Park, Maryland featuring up-cycled steel materials. I was seen and contacted by Andrew Griffin to consult and design then engineer seating for the 8th street corridor. I produced many conceptual designs, when themes were chosen, I made engineering drawings, then managed the project to completion. usually I'd fabricate everything myself, but Shaffer & Son ironworks were already involved and storing the tons of materials, so they were built in their shop in maryland.