Pleased to be seated in Melbourne

I found myself in Melbourne last week and very nice it was too. It's fun to observe the daily theatre that is a major city going to work. The hustle and bustle of commuters is made even more entertaining with the trams that Melbourne has. The architecture is interesting too. There was some great sculpture but I missed photographing those. Instead I have the design gem of Melbourne street furniture which is the bench. A design that appears to have stood the test of time. In fact the design is so simple from a manufacturing perspective it makes me think "why aren't all benches like this?" When you start asking questions like that you know that what you are looking at is good.

Often what I think of as good design is hard to substantiate. The reasons lurk in those dark edges of the debate and it comes down to subjective interpretations that we engineers detest. The merit of a design should not be debated it has to be proven logically!.

Well I'm sure such an attitude will rial the industrial designers as much as pure aesthetic consideration rials engineers. The reality being that truly good design is good from both perspectives. So I'm now wondering what aesthetic mistakes this design has because I can't see them. The fact that the bench looks good withstanding let me extol the engineering virtues of the Melbourne Bench.

The bench, as you can see, is made from many metal strips. I did see some benches that also had an end capping to the main slats but this appears to have been abandoned at some point. Other than the obvious simplicity of the slats the two associated benefits are:

1) the slats are steel

2) the slats are welded to the framework.

The steel provides a very strong solution and makes it vandal proof. Of course aluminum would work well here too but a blow from something hard and the slats would bend and dent.

This outer corner has taken a lot of wear but it also shows how the rest of the bench has worn very well. There are a number of machine process to bend these slats but even the least efficient of these is going to turn out a slat at a very competitive price. Welding is likely to be more expensive that using a fastener system such a riveting but the strength and integrity that welding brings to the bench is well worth it.

Now this design works well for a flat bench too.

This is an interesting specimen as it has sustained some damage. It would have been hit very hard by something to bend these steel slats but even when it has been it is quite functional.

And so to the finer points that I would welcome the aesthetic experts comments. I personally like this flat bench as it is these two pictures above show a bench that needs no more 'design'. Yet not everyone would agree with this clearly as I came  across this bench that has an aluminum end capping held on by bolts. 

Is the change in material and construction method and added cost worth it for an improved appearance? I think the appearance is worse. I don't think that the reason is functional in the sense that is makes for an edge that is less dangerous if someone walks into it. It might give that added safety but is that the motivation? Probably not because such an end capping doesn't exist on the latest bench made from stainless steel.

There are some design changes to the frame and in this case the legs are set into the pavement rather than bolted down using feet. Other than that the original design appears to have been kept. The slats are the same size and spacing just that now they are in stainless steel. This means the life of this handsome bench is going to be infinite. In the unlikely event of heavy vandalism removal of the bench for rework such as removing a slat and re-welding another should be easily done.

The Melbourne Street Bench works for me. For the full set of pictures look here. To find out more about the manufacturer of the stainless bench check out J.C. Brown.