In one of the fiction books that I read lately, one of the projects that this girl was trying to do was to propose an eco-friendly amusement park with some of the rides using solar energy and most of the materials to be used are from recycled or sustainable materials. It was a pretty good idea although I thought maybe in the real world this was something not that viable. Well we still don’t have one but there is a new art installation that might fit in with that fictional amusement park.
Designer: ENESS
This permanent outdoor installation is called A Solar-Powered Bench That Spins Ever So Slowly and the name is also the actual description of this idea. It is a circular bench shaped like a flower if viewed from above and depending on how strong the sun is, it will spin around either ever so slowly or a bit faster if the sun is out in full force. It is a clever idea for something that is functional, decorative, and of course, sustainable.
The bench is actually made from custom solar panels and rotomolded with low-density polyethelene (LDPE) and recycled plastic. It stores sunlight into the panels and when it is sunny, it will spin faster (although not fast enough to make anyone dizzy) and on cloudy days, then it will live up to its name as it spins ever so slowly. The design itself follows mid-century modern furniture and if you view it from above, it looks like you have a garden of flowers in pastel colors spinning in the midst of an actual garden.
The concept is meant for people to interact with the benches and to have a different perspective of public space. People are meant to relax while it spins or have conversations with other people sitting on the bench or the one across. It would be nice if it could be replicated in other places where solar power is a viable energy source and places where there are a lot of relaxing, public spaces.
