Debora Nogueira und Mariane Miorin - Iconfusion

Anywhere in the world in any country or society, the square is the public space designed to provide the meeting, leisure, contemplation and life in society. The square is not of one, but of everybody. Taking advantage of the revitalization of the Praça Espanha, a square in Curitiba, Brazil, in constant and high activity ( more of cars than people) , we had the idea of create a bench that contributes to the true function of a square: people’s meeting.

It is worth mentioning that the Praça Espanha, and all the surroundings, is a place of many design shops and decoration - as well as bars, restaurants, cafes and an antique fair on saturdays. So many of the goers are interested in design. Well, from the desire to add to the urban space leisure, meeting, design and comfort, came Icon- fusion, a bench with individual seats reproducing chairs, lamps and tables created by masters of the design. The idea was to make a fusion of design icons and put them in the urban space, in order to draw attention to the design in unconventional places, aiming to bring back the pleasure of frequenting the square as a meeting and discussion place.

One of goals is to create visual impact, as if the object is out of context and in this new context, the bench has other functions besides sitting- as, for example, contemplation and fun. The color red was chosen specifically to achieve a high level of contrast with the environment of the square, which is predominantly green of the vegetation. The models were chosen by how they look, the “recognizability” as design pieces and the possibility of reproduction in time resistant material. There are pieces made by Arne Jacobsen, Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames and Isamu Noguchi.

Feet and the main structure are made of aluminum tubular and seats are made of fiber- glass. The feet are willing to bring dynamism and movement. The bench configuration, where the parts are connected in the form of a stringer with rotating individual modules, is designed for people to interact. Another important point is the playful side, sit on the bench can be very fun. The original chairs are for internal use in homes or offices, and were taken to the square just to reinforce the idea of winning and complementing the public place - to conquer it.