true design

I've always believed that true design isn't about reinventing the wheel, but about reconsidering - and improving - on a norm. Novelty has an actual value, in the interest of new things and the unique experiences that stretch our minds or make a place special, but new simply for the sake of different is usually not enough. New really should be "New & Improved!" - it should transform a useful object for the better.

One of our favorite cities in Scotland, Inverness, seems to have captured the essence of this fact. Their Victorian Park

has a broad range of unique footbridges along the paths connecting a series of River Islands to both banks.

But what I found truly compelling was the series of benches scattered throughout the islands. Each was a unique interpretation of a theme, so that they all felt like part of a series, and yet like no bench you'd seen before.

(I had made a commitment to use the Scotland trip to learn the manual settings on my digital SLR camera. Low-light settings are still difficult for me, so while the bridge photographs are mine, the benches are Christopher's)

 

 

These benches were not only a pleasure to sit on, but they were very gratifying - I caught myself stopping to reconsider the simple, obvious "piece of furniture for sitting in a public place," and even anticipating the next iteration. People were using the benches not only to sit, but to lie on, and as an armature for stretching in the midst of a long jog. They served not only as outdoor furniture, but municipal sculpture.