Banda Doblada

The BANDA DOBLADA geometry starts with a belt of cast stone that folds up to generate a two-part bench separated by a common central space. This is a complex element which creates a space for users to interrelate, a place to rest their legs, a bag or a book. Additional modules build up a continuous benchline with a helix form. It is perfectly stable and requires no anchorage to rest on pavements, lawns or beaches. The BANDA DOBLADA design won the first prize in the 3rd “Street Furniture Design in White Cast Stone” competition, convened in 2003 by the Valencia Polytechnic White Chair, sponsored by Cemex Spain S.A. And won by German students Susanne Cierniak and Tran Thanh Minh Nguyen. ESCOFET 1886 joined the Jury on the promise to manufacture and market the winning design if it proved to be commercially viable. Once the five prototypes in differently coloured cast stone were installed on the UPV campus, ESCOFET launched this innovative bench, which does not prefigure our behaviour, and instead, challenges our imagination, giving us a free range of uses.