Hong Kong designer duo Dylan Kwok and Hinz Pak put a spin on underutilized park benches  and explore a new public facility management model to accommodate citizens’ urban interventions.

As elucidated by the project name, Hack-a-bench encourages citizens to rig up their ideal bench by modifying existing ones. In this first-round engagement, the designer duo take the helm and realize the wildest dreams of surveyed park users. The end product is a set of 10 ergonomic and sinuous benches that will stay in the park for at least 3 years.

“When we were invited to design new benches for the park, what struck us was there was a plethora of benches already. 60 seats actually. But most were underutilized – owing to unfavorable design or positioning that didn’t address user needs. That’s why we’ve decided to alter existing benches instead.”

– Dylan Kwok
BENCH 01 BENCH 02 BENCH 03

Riding the tide of citizen empowerment, urban intervention is no longer a novelty in many cities.