Design von GrA-Z

Graz has recently been nominated as UNESCO City of Design in the Creative Cities Network. The existing perceptible strong orientation towards design and the creative economy in the city will become still more pronounced. That also involves a commitment to the subject of design in public space.

The animal-like benches by designers Thomas Perz and Petrus Gartler, called Getier, are already a well accepted feature of Mariahilferplatz. Now they have been joined by the seats shaped like letters of the project "Design von GrA-Z"by Johanna Prechtl. The giant letters liven up the environment of the main bridge, Südtirolerplatz, Griesgasse and on the left riverside of the river Mur. 17 letters form a sentence, which the observant reader may discover if visiting all of the five sites. The letter-shaped seats can be used in various ways, as a playground for children, as a meeting point or simply as a resting place to relax in the sun.

Street furniture | Design in public place
On behalf of the City of Graz, Creative Industries Styria initiated the competition “Street furniture – Design in Public Space”, which asked for ideas for street furniture for the public space around the Kunsthaus Graz, explicitly for items of a maximally flexible and multifunctional nature. In May 2010, in the course of Designmonth Graz two winning projects were nominated: both have now been realized.