Site Furnishings. A Complete Guide to the Planning, Selection and Use of Landscape Furniture and Amenities

305 Pages·2009·19.31 MB·English

by  Bill Main

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Landscape Architecture/Architecture Main
Hannah
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Introducing the fi rst all-in-one guide
to site furniture principles, processes,
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and best practices
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Furniture matters—outdoors as well as in. Understanding the connections between t
site and site furniture enhances the creative opportunities for designers of outdoor e
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spaces and increases their ability to infl uence the long-term success of the spaces

they design. Site Furnishings comprehensively examines how to elevate the design
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of site furnishings to achieve programming goals.
Intended for landscape architects, designers, and contractors, as well as urban u
planners and designers, civil engineers, and other professionals, this accessible
resource explores the ways that furniture contributes to the quality of outdoor r
spaces, and provides conceptual tools, technical information, and examples of
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successful applications. Just as important, it provides an in-depth overview of the
elements that comprise site furnishings and the critical issues that inform site
furniture selection. i
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BILL MAIN, Honorary ASLA, is A Complete Guide to the Planning,
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President of Landscape Forms, one
Selection, and Use of Landscape
of the world’s premier designers and
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manufacturers of outdoor commercial n Furniture and Amenities
furniture. He received his BSLA and
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MBA from Michigan State University.
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Supported by case studies and an abundance of high-quality photographs, Site GAIL GREET HANNAH is a
Furnishings introduces professionals from all fi elds involved in site design to:
freelance writer who frequently works i
• Best practices, with a look at how these approaches lead to functional, U A
responsive, and supportable outdoor spaces with furniture companies such as Knoll se o Co
and Landscape Forms, and is the author f m
• A step-by-step process for developing a furniture plan L p n
of several design-related books. an let
• A typology of places that encompasses a wide spectrum of outdoor spaces, ds e G e
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including parks and plazas, streetscapes, retail malls, theme parks, and transit ap ui
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hubs Fu e to
• Management’s role in the success of public spaces, supported by a detailed rnit the
case study of how site and furniture management is implemented at New u P
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York’s Bryant Park e a lan t
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• Sustainability, including the major issues involved in making sustainable site d A ing
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n S Foreword by Kathryn Gustafson and Jane Amidon
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ISBN: 978-0-470-39183-9 4-COLOR GLOSSY

Site Furnishings

Site
Furnishings
A Complete Guide to the Planning,
Selection and Use of Landscape
Furniture and Amenities
Bill Main and
Gail Greet Hannah

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Dedications
Bill Main: To Kathy and our sons Brian, Matt, and Justin. Mom and Dad, too.
Gail Greet Hannah: In memory of Rowena Reed Kostellow and Christine Rae.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Main, Bill, 1953-
Site furnishings : a complete guide to the planning, selection, and use of
landscape furniture and amenities / authors, Bill Main and Gail Greet Hannah.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-39183-9 (cloth)
1. Urban beautification. 2. Streets—Accessories. 3. Outdoor furniture.
I. Hannah, Gail Greet. II. Title.
NA9052.M25 2009
717—dc22
2009011986

Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction xiii
1. The Role of Furniture in Outdoor Spaces 1
2. The Furniture Plan 25
3. Types of Spaces 59
4. Seating 81

5. Receptacles 115
6. Other Site Furniture Elements 131
and Accessories
7. Selecting Site Furniture 165
8. Accessible Design 177
9. Management 189
10. Materials and Finishes 207
vi Contents
11. Installation and Maintenance 225
12. Sustainability 239
Color Photo Credits 253
Index 257
FOREWORD
When Does Furniture Work in Outdoor Spaces?
Kathryn Gustafson (KG): A dialog about the relationship of furniture and landscape has
to begin by asking, “What is the landscape?” If we consider this question from the perspective
of public exterior space, I think about the variety of roles the landscape plays, from social and
political to aesthetic and experiential. Early models came out of communal forests which were
productive and spiritual domains, not for leisure. There were no furnishings that didn’t have direct
functional uses, like fencing or way marking. Another model was the private lands of the royalty.
Their gardens, fi elds and woodlands contained objects that weren’t necessarily purely utilitarian,
ways of framing and adding cultural information to the landscape such as arbors, walks, statuary.
Neither model was about furnishing outdoor space for public occupation, but was more for uses
such as harvesting timber, cultivation or displaying wealth.
Today so much of what we do with outdoor space is about solving problems such as remediation.

We try to make things whole, shape it to allow people to connect so they’ll want to take care of it.
Furniture works when it connects people to landscape, and opens up someone’s psyche to experi-
ence space more fully. F urniture acts as a set of tools, or sets of elements that heighten and reveal.
Jane Amidon (JA): It seems there are many objects that equip outdoor space functionally which
we wouldn’t consider to be furnishing, but are fundamental to spatial identity because these objects
amplify experiential aspects of the landscape. For example, bicycles and cars create transitory
effects, completely altering how we perceive our surroundings. Is a basic defi nition of furnishing
simple awareness, or must it invite mental or physical participation?
KG: When we’re least consciously “aware” and acting intuitively, the body responds to how a
space is furnished and how objects equip the user for living. Eero Saarinen’s chairs are sensual,
sensorial; you participate ergonomically and it changes the meaning of the landscape around you at
that moment. Each of his pieces gives the user a sense of newness. Josef Albers said that designers
should strive to do better, not just different—I’m inspired by this and believe that furniture works
when it excites our perceptions in a fresh way each time we encounter it.
viii Foreword
André Le Nôtre’s mastery of perspective using topography, water and formal
plantings furnished the royal gardens of Versailles for the display of power and
wealth. Credit: photographs by Kathryn Gustafson.
The Fountain of Apollo at the head of
Why do we have certain furniture in our lives? Like our attitudes toward
Versailles’ Grand Canal unifies statuary
and water feature to create symbolism clothing, how we use furniture has shifted through history. Some roles
and establish a sense of transition are constant: furniture constructs certain ways of using the landscape, like
within the garden sequence. socializing, gathering. Newer roles include more active uses of site and
increased security concerns.
JA: Over time we’ve become more informed and informal t oward our
bodies, scientifi cally and, are contemporary e tiquettes that certain furniture
and site confi gurations communicate. If you extend that idea to the q uestion

of outdoor spaces that for reasons of budget, program or maintenance r equire
standardized furnishings, one might say it’s the designer’s responsibility to
encourage responsivity to unique site qualities. The interaction between
user, site and objects is a phenomenon we can anticipate, but not predict. It’s
about using furnishing to suggest experience rather than using it to reinforce
consistency.
KG: Design, and experience of what’s been designed, is about discovery. Any
recipes for the design of landscape or public places are inappropriate. Formulas
can dumb things down. Good furniture isn’t about predictable decorating of
exterior space for public consumption, but for building on genus loci, revealing,
introducing circumstances for discovering the landscape.
On a recent visit to London I found a wonderful garden I’d never seen before.
It’s fully enclosed on four sides, you approach through what used to be the
service entrance. I came upon a chair that through its placement and shape
magically focused the entire space within itself and outward along the central