"Cultural benches" for Kassel - student designs awarded prizes
As part of the "Kulturbänke - Sitzgelegenheiten für den öffentlichen Raum in Kassel" competition, students at the Kunsthochschule Kassel developed designs for new forms of street furniture in the summer semester of 2025, which have now been awarded prizes as part of the "Rundgang" at the Kunsthochschule.
The main project in the Product Design course (majoring in Industrial Design) at the Kunsthochschule Kassel was something special this year. Under the supervision of Prof. Oliver Vogt and Dean Weigand, the students were able to take part in a competition organized by the City of Kassel on the initiative of the Department of Culture.
The aim of the project is to enrich public spaces with so-called "cultural benches", i.e. seating that relates to cultural themes. The ideas should relate to themes or personalities from Kassel's cultural history: In addition to people such as Arnold Bode or Christine Brückner and Otto Heinrich Kühner, the band Milky Chance and, of course, the documenta and the 250th anniversary of the Kunsthochschule Kassel in 2027 were also among the choices.
On Sunday, July 27, a jury of representatives from the city and the art academy awarded 750 euros, 500 euros and 250 euros to three designs as part of the annual "Rundgang" exhibition.
Lord Mayor Sven Schoeller emphasized: "We have seen many creative ideas that combine functionality with innovative design and create a connection to the cultural themes of our city. The students have implemented our idea of bringing unifying elements of urban society into the urban space with great inspiration. The selection was not easy for us. We are delighted that the Kassel School of Art, its teaching staff and - above all - the participating students have contributed so excellently to this project. Congratulations to the prizewinners."
Professor Dr. Martin Schmidl, Rector of the Kunsthochschule Kassel, added: "The Kulturbänke project underlines the close connection between the Kunsthochschule and the city of Kassel and is a win-win situation for both sides. As part of the assignment, the students have spent a semester dealing with issues such as quality of stay, artistic themes of the city's history, materiality, feasibility and financing and have been able to develop detailed models. We are very pleased about this cooperation, as it gives our students the opportunity to test and develop the quality of the skills they have developed with us in a real competition."
Ten designs from nine students
In addition to the artistic design, practical criteria such as practicality in everyday use, materiality and robustness were also taken into account. The extent to which the designs will be implemented now depends, among other things, on the question of suitable locations or safety.
A total of ten designs by nine students were on display. The seating was selected by Eleonora Dietrichs and Oliver Scharf, Jonas Hohmann and Kuzey Şahin.
Dietrichs and Scharf impressed with their idea for Milky Chance and were awarded 1st prize. Inspired by the song "Clouds", they designed their seat cloud "Milky Clouds" from recyclable materials, which comes from the industrial 3D printer and can be 100% reused if necessary.
Second place went to Jonas Hohmann, who chose the theme of "documenta" and linked it to the staircases that are omnipresent or no longer present in Kassel. His seating staircase with a hill and shady tree entitled "BHB" is intended for all generations and is designed to bring people together.
Kuzey Şahin developed a bench in honor of Louis Spohr that is also an oversized musical instrument. The combination of a side instrument and a percussion sound box created a piece of seating furniture that invites people to play, communicate and relax. Şahin was awarded 3rd place for this creation entitled "Orchestra".
The jury consisted of Lord Mayor Dr. Sven Schoeller, Prof. Dr. Martin Schmidl (Rector of the Kunsthochschule Kassel), Prof. Cecilia Vallejos (Professor of Multidimensional Strategies, Kunsthochschule Kassel), Helga Engelke (Chairwoman of the Senior Citizens' Advisory Board) and Gerd Saalfeld (Environmental and Garden Office)
Whether and which of the designs will be realized at which location in the urban space will be decided by the responsible committees. The purchase is to be financed by sponsorship. For this purpose, the designs provide for plaques on the respective seating areas, on which the sponsors can be named if desired.