Our city, Our identity

Rushing through the streets of the city,

The street lights shine bright and dense

The façades pass by in a blur,

Of monochrome and neon luminescence;

.

Monumental towers of glass and metal

Surround us in a towering boundary

Confining us within man-made borders

And shrouding me with worry;

 

Slowing down on a red light,

I catch a glimpse of a crowd

Growing by the minute,

Seeming to be wowed;

.

I join the horde of people,

Pushing and pulling to get close

The object in question turns out to be,

Just a bench, but offering a new dose -

.

Of innovation — built with materials

Gathered from the heart of our city

Painted by local artists,

Depicting the urban nitty gritty;

.

It was a breath of fresh air

To see something as ordinary as a seat

Representing our ancestry and stories,

In a manner so new and neat;

.

The bench stood apart, making us realize

That the identity of our city was lost

Behind a façade of urbanization,

Modernism had come to us at a great cost;

.

The idea caught fire with such great speed

That in a matter of months, pop of colors

And materials had begun to grace our streets,

On which we had not laid eyes on since forever;

.

It was furniture in literal terms,

Lights, bus stands, swings

But to us it was establishing an urbanscape

Symbiosis, like it a new beginning;

.

The city now felt ours, with

People on the street, walking excitedly

To meet their neighbors and stop for a chat

At the new park, discussing the days gone by;

.

The revolution was not big, yet

it brought about a new identity, meant

To give us a sense of belonging to our home

Our city, represent!

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BOUN’s Urbanscape: Symbiosis is a step forward that seeks to blur the boundaries between the concept of urban identity and the furniture, or public infrastructure, that represents that city. The competition aims at birthing ideas that move public furniture from the industrial convenience of mass production to something more symbiotic and contextual to the urban fabric it belongs to.

For registration and more information, visit the competition Urbanscape - Redefine left-over spaces in cities