The inspiration for the “Peace Bench” comes from ancient Japanese joinery techniques. The cross lap joint is perhaps the simplest and most powerful of all connection joints. By using this technique, a strong structure can be created with almost no nails or glue. This allows the project to be completely dismantled following installation.

This design is an exercise in stacking re-used rail ties to form a fully accessible public bench. This is an experiment of a very democratic way of construction that proves that a large scale piece of urban furniture can be built by the work of human hands alone using small unified components. The reclaimed wood will be either painted in a bright pink colour or burnt using the shou sugi ban technique in order to create the visual effect of weaving a large scale wooden tapestry.

A single granite rock  rests in a pebble base to form a ‘rock garden.’ The garden acts as a point of focus while the rock doubles as another bench formed of natural and reclaimed materials.

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