The park bench that made me rethink everything about public seating

I was at Riverside Park in my city last week, and they installed a new 'ergonomic' bench with a weird, wavy metal seat. Honestly, after sitting for 5 minutes, my back hurt more than if I'd just stood. Tbh, who approves these things? Has anyone else found a public bench design that's actually worse than just sitting on the ground?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_shane1mo ago

Actually, those wavy benches are often designed to stop people from sleeping on them. It's a hostile design choice, not really about being ergonomic. They make the bench uncomfortable on purpose so homeless people can't lie down. It's a real problem in a lot of cities now.

hugo1531mo ago

Yeah, the part about making benches uncomfortable on purpose really gets to me. It's like they'd rather punish everyone than help a few people. Just feels so mean-spirited, you know? Makes the whole city feel less welcoming.

butler.quinn1mo ago

Yeah, I saw a whole article about "hostile design" like that. Makes you wonder why we can't just have nice things for everyone, right?