International Bench Exchange
In the spring of 2009, students from the Maryland Institute College of Art were presented a site in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by Baltimore City to create an innovative use for a public space. The resultant project, Bench Exchange, is the inaugural project of Design/Build Studio, an interdisciplinary collaboration that participates in design projects in Baltimore City to engage students with real world projects from design to implementation.
This project will initiate a bench for bench exchange with each of Baltimore's eleven Sister Cities. Each bench, like its city, has it’s own unique story. The bench represents our basic similarities as people and celebrates our diversity as different cultures. Bench Exchange, seeks to endorse local design through a global dialogue and develop recognition of Baltimore’s Sister Cities to enhance a major public space through carefully arranged seating.
For more info please visit www.benchexchange.org
Proposal image for Phase One, Have a Seat with the World! (twelve Baltimore Benches on site presented on shipping pallet prepared for travel.
Ariel view of McKeldin Square adjacent to the Inner Harbor, Baltimore City.
Proposal image for Baltimore bench seated in Rotterdam near the Erramus Bridge.