This family of benches is exhibited collectively in the John Madejski Garden at the centre of the V&A. Nine designers worked on the Bench Years project with individual material suppliers, accentuating the inherent attributes of their chosen material. Each bench is made from a different material and designed by a different designer.
The materials include sheet metal, wood, marble, corian, concrete, glass mosaic, tubular steel, ceramic and cork. On display at the V&A would be works by Konstantin Grcic, Martino Gamper, Industrial Facility, Jasper Morrison, AL_A, Barber Osgerby, Felix de Pass, Fernando Brizio and Alexander Taylor.
Alexander Taylor designed the bench in tubular steel supplied by Caparo. Martino Gamper designed the bench in wood supplied by American Hardwood Export Council. Luca Nichetto designed the bench in glass supplied by Nardo Vetro. Barber Osgerby designed the bench in marble supplied by Torart. Konstantin Grcic designed the bench in mosaic supplied by Bisazza. AL_A designed the bench in ceramic supplied by Cumella while Sam Hecht & Kim Colin / Industrial Facility designed the bench in mosaic supplied by Bisazza. AL_A designed the bench in Corian supplied by Corian.
Although the bench is a dynamic and important component of urban furniture within an urban city, its design is often subject to various limitations, such as size, durability, vandalism etc. The Bench Years project aims to free designers of such limitations, and provide them a particular material to focus on. The resulting family of benches explores the versatility of the materials and challenges the widely held assumptions.
