These wonderful installations by Ivan Hernandez are perhaps less like artwork and more like thought experiments rendered first as sketches and then made real. Some of them are innovative and useful, others are clever and playful, but each of these ten projects is aimed at examining (and ultimately changing) the way we interact with one another and the urban environment. The chair-lifted barrier is certainly on the more conceptual side of these designs, a humorously way of questioning the ever-more-ubiquitous barriers in urban places. Somewhat more functional is the second balance-based idea shown above: a series of chairs that lift flower pots for others sitting around on the same furniture – a way of inspiring people to do something nice for a neighboring seat-taker. When not in use as a ladder, why not turn this bulky construction object into something useful by leaning it against the wall and adding shelves? Speaking of leaning, how about adding some simple objects to walls to encourage people to spend more time loitering in public spaces. A center-pivot tip-prone bench is one way to ensure collaborative efforts to keep from falling over. A portable scaffolding framework could allow vendors to easily set up and move shops but could also be decked out as temporary public sitting and interacting space.

Originally posted here : Urban Prosthetics: 10 Interactive Public Furniture Designs