Urban Gardens

How will the pandemic change the design of public parks and gardens? Many of these much-loved spaces around the world are closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and officials continue to grapple with how to safely reopen… Read More...

You might say that French sculptor Francis Benincà was ahead of the curve. As a teenager Benincà worked alongside his father building sculptural “bubble houses” which strongly influenced the designs of the environmental sculptures Benincà creates today. 

His father, Antonio … Read More...

When the city of  Gdansk, Poland removed parking from its historic Targ Weglowy Square, the absence of cars presented a new urban planning and design opportunity that could simultaneously test public interaction within the square.

From August 26 to September … Read More...

Florian Rivière, Wheelbench, Vienna, September 2012

You might call Florian Rivière a guerrilla urbanist. Much in the way guerrilla gardeners take possession of underutilized, sometimes offbeat, public spaces to plant gardens, Rivière–a self-proclaimed “urban hacktivist”– reinvents and diverts public spaces … Read More...

Here’s a challenge to the traditional notion of public space as a “town square” or “village green”: You’ve got an unsafe under bridge area within an existing viaduct not so suitable for planting or creating a verdant space.  Architects James … Read More...

The Mobile Garden, recently approved by the Chicago Transit Authority, will add green space to the windy city as straphangers enjoy a flatcar train garden during their commutes. The moving urban garden, to become a part of regular … Read More...

The Banc Image Miroir, or Mirror Bench, is like a chameleon, blending into it’s reflected surroundings, changing as the world passes by.

The sleek bench, whose seat and back are constructed of highly polished stainless steel, is the creation of … Read More...