The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is looking for fresh interpretations of the National Stadium’s memories in the form of benches in our public spaces. URA is calling for designs for the next batch of benches through ‘Re:Bench’, a public competition launched on 14 August.
Back in 2012, salvaged wooden planks from the former National Stadium were transformed into 30 designs selected and commissioned through a design competition. 93 benches from that competition are now located in 23 public spaces around Singapore, and the new batch of benches will be fabricated from the remaining seating planks.
Mr Lim Eng Hwee, CEO of URA, said: “Through the bench project, we see good design tangibly expressed in beautiful and useful ways. The benches not only commemorate the former National Stadium, but have also injected vibrancy to the public spaces they are in. We want to bring this buzz to other areas using the remaining planks.”
Entries will be evaluated based on strength of concept (how well they respond to the brief) and creativity (their level of innovation as both public furniture and art).
The competition — under URA’s Our Favourite Place programme — is open to designers aged 35 and below, and will close on 30 November. Winning designs will each be awarded a $1,000 cash prize, and the designs will then be brought to life and placed in public spaces. More details on the competition can be found at http://www.ourfaveplace.sg/ReBench.