s Landscape Architecture/Architecture Main Hannah g Introducing the fi rst all-in-one guide to site furniture principles, processes, S and best practices i Furniture matters—outdoors as well as in. Understanding the connections between t site and site furniture enhances the creative opportunities for designers of outdoor e n spaces and increases their ability to infl uence the long-term success of the spaces they design. Site Furnishings comprehensively examines how to elevate the design F of site furnishings to achieve programming goals. Intended for landscape architects, designers, and contractors, as well as urban u planners and designers, civil engineers, and other professionals, this accessible resource explores the ways that furniture contributes to the quality of outdoor r spaces, and provides conceptual tools, technical information, and examples of i n successful applications. Just as important, it provides an in-depth overview of the elements that comprise site furnishings and the critical issues that inform site furniture selection. i h s BILL MAIN, Honorary ASLA, is A Complete Guide to the Planning, h President of Landscape Forms, one Selection, and Use of Landscape of the world’s premier designers and i manufacturers of outdoor commercial n Furniture and Amenities furniture. He received his BSLA and s g MBA from Michigan State University. s Supported by case studies and an abundance of high-quality photographs, Site GAIL GREET HANNAH is a Furnishings introduces professionals from all fi elds involved in site design to: freelance writer who frequently works i • Best practices, with a look at how these approaches lead to functional, U A responsive, and supportable outdoor spaces with furniture companies such as Knoll se o Co and Landscape Forms, and is the author f m • A step-by-step process for developing a furniture plan L p n of several design-related books. an let • A typology of places that encompasses a wide spectrum of outdoor spaces, ds e G e c including parks and plazas, streetscapes, retail malls, theme parks, and transit ap ui e d hubs Fu e to • Management’s role in the success of public spaces, supported by a detailed rnit the case study of how site and furniture management is implemented at New u P r York’s Bryant Park e a lan t n n r • Sustainability, including the major issues involved in making sustainable site d A ing • ctThheeocmhicneisc, awl hinefroer tmo aotbiotnai no nin mfoartmeraiatilos,n i,n asntadl liantdiouns tmrye itnhiotidast,i vmesa itnot epnraonmcoe,t ea nd CODBaoelvcipnkea ;rc r o©itvmm eJarei gmnleetsf ,tPo ftofro owT nroeitglu lch;ro tiWvs:meri slceoftn tsoi nri ght: menities , Selectio i Bill Main Gail Greet Hannah functional requirements of street and site furniture G© uJsitmaf Psoonw Gellu; t©hr iJeim N Picohwoel lLltd; n, a u n S Foreword by Kathryn Gustafson and Jane Amidon d F ISBN: 978-0-470-39183-9 4-COLOR GLOSSY Site Furnishings Site Furnishings A Complete Guide to the Planning, Selection and Use of Landscape Furniture and Amenities Bill Main and Gail Greet Hannah John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dedications Bill Main: To Kathy and our sons Brian, Matt, and Justin. Mom and Dad, too. Gail Greet Hannah: In memory of Rowena Reed Kostellow and Christine Rae. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Main, Bill, 1953- Site furnishings : a complete guide to the planning, selection, and use of landscape furniture and amenities / authors, Bill Main and Gail Greet Hannah. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-470-39183-9 (cloth) 1. Urban beautification. 2. Streets—Accessories. 3. Outdoor furniture. I. Hannah, Gail Greet. II. Title. NA9052.M25 2009 717—dc22 2009011986 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Foreword vii Acknowledgments xii Introduction xiii 1. The Role of Furniture in Outdoor Spaces 1 2. The Furniture Plan 25 3. Types of Spaces 59 4. Seating 81 5. Receptacles 115 6. Other Site Furniture Elements 131 and Accessories 7. Selecting Site Furniture 165 8. Accessible Design 177 9. Management 189 10. Materials and Finishes 207 vi Contents 11. Installation and Maintenance 225 12. Sustainability 239 Color Photo Credits 253 Index 257 FOREWORD When Does Furniture Work in Outdoor Spaces? Kathryn Gustafson (KG): A dialog about the relationship of furniture and landscape has to begin by asking, “What is the landscape?” If we consider this question from the perspective of public exterior space, I think about the variety of roles the landscape plays, from social and political to aesthetic and experiential. Early models came out of communal forests which were productive and spiritual domains, not for leisure. There were no furnishings that didn’t have direct functional uses, like fencing or way marking. Another model was the private lands of the royalty. Their gardens, fi elds and woodlands contained objects that weren’t necessarily purely utilitarian, ways of framing and adding cultural information to the landscape such as arbors, walks, statuary. Neither model was about furnishing outdoor space for public occupation, but was more for uses such as harvesting timber, cultivation or displaying wealth. Today so much of what we do with outdoor space is about solving problems such as remediation. We try to make things whole, shape it to allow people to connect so they’ll want to take care of it. Furniture works when it connects people to landscape, and opens up someone’s psyche to experi- ence space more fully. F urniture acts as a set of tools, or sets of elements that heighten and reveal. Jane Amidon (JA): It seems there are many objects that equip outdoor space functionally which we wouldn’t consider to be furnishing, but are fundamental to spatial identity because these objects amplify experiential aspects of the landscape. For example, bicycles and cars create transitory effects, completely altering how we perceive our surroundings. Is a basic defi nition of furnishing simple awareness, or must it invite mental or physical participation? KG: When we’re least consciously “aware” and acting intuitively, the body responds to how a space is furnished and how objects equip the user for living. Eero Saarinen’s chairs are sensual, sensorial; you participate ergonomically and it changes the meaning of the landscape around you at that moment. Each of his pieces gives the user a sense of newness. Josef Albers said that designers should strive to do better, not just different—I’m inspired by this and believe that furniture works when it excites our perceptions in a fresh way each time we encounter it. viii Foreword André Le Nôtre’s mastery of perspective using topography, water and formal plantings furnished the royal gardens of Versailles for the display of power and wealth. Credit: photographs by Kathryn Gustafson. The Fountain of Apollo at the head of Why do we have certain furniture in our lives? Like our attitudes toward Versailles’ Grand Canal unifies statuary and water feature to create symbolism clothing, how we use furniture has shifted through history. Some roles and establish a sense of transition are constant: furniture constructs certain ways of using the landscape, like within the garden sequence. socializing, gathering. Newer roles include more active uses of site and increased security concerns. JA: Over time we’ve become more informed and informal t oward our bodies, scientifi cally and, are contemporary e tiquettes that certain furniture and site confi gurations communicate. If you extend that idea to the q uestion of outdoor spaces that for reasons of budget, program or maintenance r equire standardized furnishings, one might say it’s the designer’s responsibility to encourage responsivity to unique site qualities. The interaction between user, site and objects is a phenomenon we can anticipate, but not predict. It’s about using furnishing to suggest experience rather than using it to reinforce consistency. KG: Design, and experience of what’s been designed, is about discovery. Any recipes for the design of landscape or public places are inappropriate. Formulas can dumb things down. Good furniture isn’t about predictable decorating of exterior space for public consumption, but for building on genus loci, revealing, introducing circumstances for discovering the landscape. On a recent visit to London I found a wonderful garden I’d never seen before. It’s fully enclosed on four sides, you approach through what used to be the service entrance. I came upon a chair that through its placement and shape magically focused the entire space within itself and outward along the central