Street furniture is an essential part of the landscape in towns and cities all over the country, fulfilling a practical purpose whilst attempting to remain aesthetically pleasing in the process. There are plenty of dynamic and futuristic designs on display around the world, and we have put together a collection of some of the most impressive and creative pieces of street furniture to be found on streets around the globe.



The aptly named Spaghetti Wall by French-Argentine designer Pablo Reinoso is constructed of chestnut and iron. Reflecting the nature of the material from which it is constructed the bench branches out from the seating area stretching upwards, 'reflecting the desires of urban explorers to roam, both creatively and physically.'



'Reef Bench' by Remy and Veenhuizen incorporates natural materials and highly styled design to create an organic and functional piece of street furniture. Made for a high school in The Netherlands, the bench encourages socialising by the use of vertical and horizontal space, whilst the style brings a splash of creativity to an otherwise confined school environment.



Designed by a group of French designers and engineers, this bench forms part of the DUNE street furniture system. The bench can be used differently depending on the weather conditions, with the sloping acacia wood section encouraging people to lie in the sun, whilst the variety of functional tables, shelves and benches allow the public to use it in a number of ways. The benches are designed to blend into the landscape as well as being interchangeable and easily transported to other locations.



The Parking Squid, designed by Susan Robb, is one of Seattle's most interesting pieces of functional street art. The lively design is in the form of a giant squid, with tentacles to lock bikes into. It is helping to generate more interest in both art and cycling amongst locals.



This bench called Day Tripper, can be found in Tokyo, Japan. Its design is inspired by the different positions people take up during the course of the day. The resulting design is a curvy bench featuring a silk screen flower pattern which brings functional creative art to one of the largest private building developments in Japan.

This is a guest post sent in by John Fairbrother of Bailey Artform. John is an expert on designer street furniture and contributes to a number of blogs.

Art has always influenced design and vice versa, and no more so than when we look at our towns and cities. Our offices, and even our homes, replicate the trend of the time, or hark back to iconic eras, often without us realising.

As design concentrates on creating the perfect combination of aesthetics and utility, you can begin to see where great design eras have inspired creative design, and again vice versa, in this collection of design history spotted across Britain.


Art Nouveau bench
Avenham Park, Preston, UK
Flickr.com

Let's go back to the beginning of modern design, Art Nouveau. The iconic look of designers such as Charles Mackintosh was a staple feature in British art, recognised with its stylised lines, floral imagery, soft curves and the femme fatale herself. It can even be seen in this wooden bench situated in Preston. The floral curves compliment the wooden seating, creating an earthy feel which is spot on for its green surroundings. Plenty of style gives it a creative feel; giving the park a bit of life, without taking away from the natural beauty surrounding it, which is replicated in the wrought iron recreating aspects of nature.


Art Deco shelter
Weston Shore, Southampton, UK
geograph.org.uk

The futuristic looking shelter, one of several lining the seafront at Weston Shore, screams Art Deco; combining a space-ship feel with smooth curves and sun-ray lines. The 1930 – 1940s design boom was obsessed with the future, hope after the great depression and the machine age. The pod like shape of this shelter perfectly reflects the ideals at the time, giving it a futuristic, space ship feel, with clean, smooth lines to finish it off. The ocean liner look was common throughout Art Deco and looks perfect on the sea front.


Pop Art phone box
North Yorkshire, UK
geograph.org

The iconic British telephone box predates the Pop Art era by a good few decades, however, it's fun, popular and mass produced ideals is perfectly in tune with the Pop Art ethos. The iconic red phone box is most widely recognised, however the designer, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was never too keen on the colour, and felt that a softer green would be more suitable in rural Britain. Pop Art, the fun, bold, bright movement celebrating mass production and popular culture is wonderfully twinned with the British phone box – without even knowing it.


Post modern bench
Manchester city centre, UK
Baileystreetscene.co.uk

City centres across the UK are reinventing themselves as centres of cool. Glass fronted, sleek and modern is the current theme in cities across Britain. This bench located in Manchester is a fantastic homage to the city's industrial roots whilst nodding to its vibrant, booming present. The sea grey granite recreates the manufacturing side of the city, whilst the smooth stainless silver is perfect for the redevelopment of this vibrant city centre. The feature of LED under lighting is a quirky touch which ties together utility and aesthetic design.

Bailey Streetscene is a leading street furniture designer with a portfolio of high class design for national organisations. They strive to combine high quality design fit for use and purpose.