Bill's bench design
They say time never RESTs.
Twenty plus years ago I designed a bench for a competition between the Metropolitan Phoenix membership within the American Institute of Architects. The competing bench solutions were prominently displayed in the brand new Burton Barr Library. The inside of the curve shape created opportunities for some face to face conversation, while sitting on the outside of the curve offered more privacy. The jury acknowledged my bench as "runner up" to the bench considered the "best of show".The benches were then auctioned for charity.
It was all collaboration. A longtime friend (from my grade school days...who had matured into a fine wood furniture maker) cut the wood pieces pro bono per my seat specifications. My cabinet maker neighbor across the street (still my neighbor working out of his garage 20 years later), helped sand and refine those wooden seat parts, also pro bono. A sheet metal duct fabricator for routing conditioned air (whose phone number I located by paging through the Yellow Pages) donated the metal and constructed the curved volume per my direction.
Today the original bidder/owner, has placed the bench adjacent to their pool. Photographed in the reflection of the setting sun, it has aged with dignity (grayed redwood and rusted steel). In the words of radio host Paul Harvey, "And now you know the REST of the story."
topic: object design