EQUILIBRIUM
Maria Dal Canto and Lena Holzer
Equilibrium consists of three objects that are usually found in parks and gardens: a two-person bench, a two-person chaise longue and a table for four people. These three objects, different from each other, share a simple, minimalistic design as well as the choice of materials and a game that is created once they are being used.
The project is based on research and observations carried out in parks, on both the behavior of attendants and on the concept of the park itself. The main source of reflection is that often, when several places to sit are available, people prefer to sit alone rather than with someone. However, the park is a public meeting place where people speak, share, meet and acculturate as well as relax. For this reason, it is thought to create objects that encourage people to communicate and socialize.
The three objects are designed by maintaining a straight, continuous, open bended line using a universal angle of curvature, which allows the object to obtain a symmetrical shape. The choice of such minimalistic design for the structures results from the desire to emphasize the rope, which is the main element in all the three objects.
If somebody decides to sit alone on a seat, the rope will tend to the adjacent free seat, causing the person to fall or in any case to sit uncomfortably, since the ropes are free to move through the tubular holes. In this way, the person who wants to sit will need to find someone to share these objects with in order to balance their weight. However, the seats are designed in a way that they can be used by individuals as well: at the end of the strings, they are fixed by simple knots, which can be opened and closed to shorten and thus to limit their sliding.
