#3 Zipper Bench, WXY

Battery Park, New York, USA

Designed to mirror a zipper zipping, this park bench was designed by WXY architecture and urban design firm and presented to New York City in 2011.

The bench is part of UN Studio's New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion located in Battery Park, NY, formed as a gift to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York Harbour, despite the two-year delay of its completion.

This unique design has been crafted to weave throughout Battery Park, displaying its zipping form that splits around trees and takes on different shapes. The silver metal and repeated lines that make up the bench only add to its zipper-like appearance.

The key element of the design was to provide multiple seating options, protect the newly-planted trees and with its curved aesthetic, account for and follow any line in a landscape plan. The additional benefit is that the structure acts as a skate deterrent.

The bench's changing silhouette of the bench starts as a flat plane before transforming; sloping upwards to include back support and arm rests.