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Landscape Forms Introduces MultipliCITY Collection
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| Oct 29, 2014 |
Landscape Forms proudly announces the introduction of MultipliCITY, an international collection of outdoor public furniture elements that gives new meaning to the term “global design.” Created and developed in partnership with celebrated design innovators Yves Behar and fuseproject, MultipliCITY pioneers the integration of mass production and custom design with a truly global design vocabulary.
“We wanted to broaden our perspective, to employ a design language that is relevant beyond North America,” explains Landscape Forms President, Richard Heriford. “The economic shift of recent years has led to a new appreciation of design that is less fussy, more clear and purposeful. Globally it’s a new day and that opens the door for a new aesthetic. For several years we have been doing research on efficiently delivering product globally, so the time is right. MultipliCITY will be equally at home in Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Boston.”
The challenge, as Yves Behar explains it, was “to create something new to express local identity, micro-curated space, and integration with hardscape and landscape while offering surprise and delight.” The result is a dynamic and flexible system that combines the efficiency of mass production, the flexibility of custom materials and configurations for expressing local cultural preferences, and the carbon-reducing sustainability of flat shipping and local assembly for international markets. The system includes seven elements: a backed and backless bench, table, bike rack, path-light and single-sided and double-sided litter receptacles. Elements are made up of standard mass produced structural parts, which include cast aluminum frames and brackets, and locally manufactured parts, notably seating and table surfaces which may be specified in standard hardwoods in North America, or locally sourced hardwoods in other parts of the world.
MultipliCITY addresses multiple scales, applications and creative expressions. It is dynamic in visual expression, structural shape and detail. While its overall aesthetic is simple, it reveals subtle intricacy in the places where elements come together. The sculptural shapes of frames and volumes outline a distinctive profile that is identifiable at a distance, while refined joinery and transitions from flat to convex surfaces become visible at closer proximity, creating a rich 360-degree experience. Benches and tables are substantial in scale, with generous wood boards that offer a familiar softness to the touch. Solid and grounded, the system imparts a sense of ease, permanence and stability.
“MultipliCITY comes to life in outdoor space”, explains Landscape Forms V.P. of Design Kirt Martin. “The forms are visually interesting and complement the landscape and surrounding architecture. And the detailing in the joinery plays beautifully with light.” MultipliCITY is interactive and user-centered. Benches can be configured in multiple geometries and can accommodate an optional table affixed to the back for holding a laptop or lunch. Bike racks have a standing height wood surface, providing a place to rest a phone or keys while the bike is being secured. Lights and litters have rounded edges that are friendly to users and passersby. And MultipliCITY considers the environment. LED lights are solar-powered. Aluminum parts contain recycled content and are fully recyclable. Flat shipping and local assembly lower the carbon footprint of internationally traded product. Multiplicity is available fully assembled or in flat pack shipping and local assembly for domestic and International markets.
MultipliCITY offers a wholly new approach to site furniture for a global market, creating people-centered spaces that transcend national, regional and cultural boundaries. It offers a universal language and logic that, by bridging the global and the local, enable solutions that are unique every time. “For me, a product has to respond to a certain ethos of a time,” Yves Behar says. “It’s about how it relates to space and helps us find new ways to adapt our lives and desires to the world around us. We designed MultipliCITY to respond with emotional intelligence, as well as functional intelligence, to the world we inhabit today.
About fuseproject:
Founded in 1999 by Yves Béhar, fuseproject is an award-winning San Francisco-based integrated design and branding agency. Fuseproject is considered one of the top design firms in the world, through their unique approach to bring brands to life.
Rooted in brand and industrial design, fuseproject now spans user experience, digital, environments, apparel, strategy and business prototyping. Combining technological innovation and design from ‘the inside out’ has formed fuseproject’s distinctive identity. Engaging a long-term, strategic approach to develop and enhance brands, Yves Béhar and fuseproject, design for the relevant functional purpose and emotional connection between product and consumer. Fuseproject achieves brand-building innovations through conceptual narratives communicated directly through a product’s experience.
Design partnerships and ventures are a key ingredient for fuseproject’s unique business model, and creative identity. Fuseproject has become the go-to for the tech/startup scene. In 2013, fuseproject moved into a new home right in the heart of SF’s tech corridor; with neighbors Airbnb, Jawbone & Adobe.
About Landscape Forms:
Landscape Forms is the industry leader in integrated collections of high-design site furniture and advanced LED lighting. Since its founding in 1969 Landscape Forms has earned a reputation for excellent design, high quality products and exceptional service. The Landscape Forms U.S. headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan with sales representatives throughout North America, the United Kingdom, Southern Europe, the United Arab Emirates and Asia. Landscape Forms collaborates with renowned industrial designers and consultancies, landscape architects, and architects to design and develop integrated collections of products that address emerging needs and help create a sense of place. Additionally, the company has formed global marketing partnerships with select companies that share its commitment to design.
Landscape Forms has an installed base of products around the world. Clients include municipalities, transit centers, corporate, college and health care campuses; and familiar brand leaders such as Boeing, Cisco Systems, Disney, Sprint, American Airlines, Herman Miller and Nike. The company was recently named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the Top 15 Small Workplaces in the US.
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