Street furniture

The term street furniture (including street furniture) is the generic term for some items in the outside area, the public and private urban space, squares or in parks that are comparable to the classic furniture furnish the urban space and are earmarked.

A city furniture offers features that are required in public spaces (such as partitions ), or it is an object which serves the information or advertising, linger, relax or play. An exuberant street furniture is valued by planners and architects for design reasons also critical.

Definitions

The term city furniture objects and bodies are referred to in the public space, in contrast to buildings and other structures have a dimension that are closer to the order of furniture than on the architecture, and the partly similar functions as classic furniture. Compared with furniture in the interior, however, the dimensions of which are in some cases significantly larger.

Often it is pure purpose furniture, on the other hand often out of a conscious design standards of the respective municipality. In larger cities they are sometimes subject to an image bearing canon, be entrusted with the development architect and designer with the purpose of a corporate identity and cultural representation.

The division into certain street furniture is not well and can be done by different criteria. A demarcation of the property is difficult in a number of street furniture, as most urban furniture is securely mounted, for functional reasons, thus also remains immobile and does not represent a piece of furniture in the classic sense. Two typical German equipment in road space, which are often cited as an example of urban furniture, the advertising column and the urinal in the shape of Berlin's "Café Octagon ". With these properties, the demarcation problem is obvious. A common toilet facility or a kiosk can not be regarded as street furniture, also a gargoyle can only fixed ( immobile ) to be installed because it needs a fixed connection to the water supply system.

Exclusion definitions for street furniture

Not to count for street furniture are integral parts of the road system, such as curb stones, paving slabs, asphalt paving, manhole cover or noise barriers. By contrast, lighting fixtures, traffic signals or traffic signs are often understood as street furniture, although they are necessary equipment of the road system and serve the traffic flow.

However, are not expected to street furniture, technical equipment such as hydrants, Telefonverteilkästen, transformers, power outlets, mail boxes, taxi columns, surveillance cameras or sound systems. Bulk boxes, glass and paper containers should also not be regarded as urban furniture. However, it attempts to insert these infrastructure objects by location-based designerische design harmoniously into the urban landscape, thus giving them the character of street furniture or to generate advertising revenue frequently.

No street furniture are all above-ground buildings and structures in public spaces, which are independently useful and well- thought out, can be entered by humans and suitable or intended to serve the protection of humans, animals or things, and firmly connected by some resistance and with the ground are ( building on the definitions of the state building codes ). This kiosk systems, bus shelters, toilets, urinals, canopies (eg, a shopping zone or station receipt), or covered bicycle parking not be categorized as street furniture.

Use for advertising purposes

In recent years, to be understood by this term increasingly larger objects and buildings. Here are often linked in Private Public Partnership service functions of local institutions with the interests of private advertising agencies and investors. This applies for example to shelters, road platform roofs, public telephones and toilets. Street furniture also be created solely for promotional purposes, as the advertising column, Mega -Light boards and Recycling Bin with backlit poster advertising.

The advertising industry has expressed interest in street furniture, which at the same time advertising revenue can be generated. In order to set up and use rights for outdoor advertising street furniture is a separate branch of industry has developed. Local advertising rights on public land awarded by the municipalities. Connect to the external recruiters mostly long- term contracts. This typically see for the street furniture the duty on the structure and maintenance of adequate facilities on how the public toilet facilities. In return, this may market the advertising space. Depending on the attractiveness and amount of advertising space, the municipality also receives money from the street furniture or have to pay it for its services. Maturities of these contracts for 10 to 15 years are given the investments to be quite common. Such facilities in the public space are the Wall kiosks, which are set up by Wall AG to the free use and are funded for installation and maintenance of their advertising revenue.

Examples of street furniture

• Street furniture

Stainless steel spiral as bicycle stands, square in Tonning

Drinking fountains, Stresowpark in Berlin- Spandau

Drinking fountains, Portland ( Oregon), USA

For making the traffic flow, the separation of areas or generally to protect citizens serve railings, posts, cordons, barriers and control and protection fences. Other street furniture for this purpose are bollards or general shutoff. Also, tree guards and bike racks or parking barriers belong to this group. Another feature is the provision of universally accessible objects of consumption such as vending machines, drinking fountains and water pumps, the latter especially are also used for emergency water supply. The maintenance of general order are waste baskets. To structure the parking or time limit must be set up parking machines.

The information of citizens are information boards and maps, sight and communication boxes and preferably mounted on pillars signs. Other information serving furniture pieces are normal clocks, sundials and weather columns. Often these artful devices are connected to advertising. Separately and exclusively for advertising billboards and advertising columns and billboards are used. An intermediate position between general information and advertising have separate standing and wall cabinets. Apart from a general information are for the purpose of communication with the authorities or emergency in the city emergency telephones and fire alarms and general telecommunications equipment or information columns ( Info Point ) available. More specific tasks convey views telescopes or large screens for public viewing.

One general cultural function to linger, relax or play serve seating, planters and planters, pergolas. Also fountains, playground equipment, flag poles or jump islands are preferably suitable. Unique as a culture in the city are monuments and sculptures allocate.

Well-known architects and designers

The Austrian architect Luigi Blau has designed in Vienna Working in the context of street furniture, including Benches, flower pots and clothes container. In the garden of the museum Het Schip Amsterdam in an exhibition showing various street furniture in the style of the Amsterdam School, among others, by Pieter Lucas Marnette (1888-1948) and Anton Kurvers ( 1889-1940 ).

Standardize

By the German Institute for Standardization, is the DIN EN 13198 (July 1998) " Precast concrete products - Street furniture and garden design elements " have been developed. The document specifies the performance requirements for prefabricated street furniture and landscaping elements made ​​of concrete. Definitions of street furniture is not described therein. Prefabricated non-structural products and accessories can be used in public and private sectors. The DIN EN 13198 also does not apply to paving stones, paving slabs, curbs, fences, drainage channels, safety barriers or noise barriers, which in turn are no street furniture.