Please just a nice place to sit — Victual Market, Munich, Germany

Seating is a basic need, but in many areas it is a controversial idea. This simple solution to a problem…how do two vendors with different customers find a way connect the two businesses? This works when the market is open, it serves a “basic” need for each, and is perfect for this location. When the market is closed they remove this “bench”

When the market is closed it is a tree guard, but then as the market opens, and the kiosk vendors come to open the two stalls (a juice bar and a soup stall), someone attaches these two wooden “platforms” for sitting/leaning to the railing. It still looks pretty awful and uninviting, BUT…

On the side with the juice bar, people (these two women) buy their juice and sit, watching the people go by and having a nice chat.

On the soup side people also gather to have theri soup or just sit and talk. One thing to notice is thatthe way the bench comes aroiund to the soup stall’s tables people can triangulate for a more comfortable conversation, BUT…

So, then what might have looked like an unlikley or unwanted place to sit is actually a major amenity in the life of that very small part of a very large and important market. In our work we see special and very unique settings like this as the foundation for any place. This is Placemaking at its best, and it is “right in front of our noses if we look.”