The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen

Feb 2011

By Irina Vinnitskaya — Filed under: Misc ,Videos , Copenhagen, Denmark, MAPT, Sune Petersen

▼

Add this to My Bookmarks:

share by email

share by email

Copenhagen-based architectural office MAPT is behind the concept and development of the first interactive bench; one that invites you to play, move and experience the urban space in a dynamic way. The bench that changes color and pattern as people pass by has sprung up in Copenhagen’s “Islands Brygge.” The design became possible with the collaboration with designer Sune Petersen.

Read on for more about The Playful Bench after the break.

The bench is situated at the newly restored urban space above the underground parking facility in Leifsgade, Island Brygge in Copenhagen. The idea for the interactive element arose when the Municipality of Copenhagen had to restore the urban space after completing a two year building process of an underground parking facility. “We’ve been fascinated by urban spaces that communicate with people, for a long time. As a starting point, we chose something that was already out there, the benches, and then made one of them come to life. When people walk past the interactive bench, it lights up and lures with play.” says MAPT.

“The playful bench” is a classic Copenhagen bench, which in this case, to give the colors and patterns a perfect background, is untreated oak instead of the traditional painted green. Through technology it is brought to life and engages in dialogue with people who pass by.

Courtesy of MAPT

The bench has three different games. One game is a painting game. Colors appear on the bench when people move their hand over portions of it. These “paintings” are displayed when the bench is left alone, and can be found on the bench’s facebook page. The second game requires more physical activity. Each board on the bench is lit up by a flashing bar code. The faster you run past the bench the more acceleration will be displayed on each board. The last game requires patience. When a person sits down on the bench different light particles curiously approaching where the person is seated. They come closer and closer until the bench explodes in a sea of lights.

Courtesy of MAPT

”The playful bench” can be explored every day when darkness falls, and is active daily from 5 pm to 10 pm. The urban space where the bench can be found is situated in Leifsgade on the stretch between Bergthoragade and Gunløgsgade.

: © Lars Engelgaard

: © Lars Engelgaard

: © Lars Engelgaard

: Courtesy of MAPT

: Courtesy of MAPT

: Courtesy of MAPT

: Courtesy of MAPT

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Vinnitskaya , Irina . "The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen" 03 Feb 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 21 May 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/108593>

Comments (3)
Tweets (12)
Links to this entry (0)

up_today_arch says:

OK… playful bench, playful elevation, playful asphalt?… what’s next?…

# February 3, 2011 at 17:48

Not Convinced says:

From what I can see, this is a bench that really only works in the dark and at night time. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I’m not one for sitting around in a cold, dark park at night, and would much rather enjoy comfort of a park bench during the daytime.

Also, I can’t imagine too many parks around the world would buy into this idea – it seems a perfect beacon to draw the attention of mindless vandals in the dead of night.

For me this is a kitsch and pointless exercise. Fancy lighting effects with little else to offer…

# February 3, 2011 at 21:08

JayM says:

A cool, playful project! I imagine the technology could be adapted to many fun uses.

The comments on this site are astoundingly often bitterly cynical and negative. Maybe not so many people would become cynics or aforementioned “mindless vandals” if they played a game or had fun more often.

It’s nice to see that the joy of playing can be brought to something as ordinary as a public bench. Sitting and playing a game on a bench during the night… why not!

# February 4, 2011 at 02:19

10:46 PM Feb 3rd

Barry Maguire

The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen via ArchDaily – Click here to view the embedded … http://tinyurl.com/4by5tca

kucukarabalik

The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen | ArchDaily http://t.co/7vgOGbC via @archdaily

11:13 PM Feb 3rd

Erik Joya

The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen: Click here to view the embedded video. Copenhagen… http://goo.gl/fb/S67B8

2:01 AM Feb 4th

Architekt R V Scholz

#Architekt #Calau The Playful Bench / MAPT and Sune Petersen: Click here to view the embedd… http://bit.ly/estnCf #in http://dy.cx/c03