Para: Revolutionizing Public Outdoor Seating

Mian Wei's Award-Winning Design Brings Playfulness to Public Spaces

Mian Wei's inspiration for Para came from a desire to deviate from the traditional form of conventional chair design. The designer aimed to shift the center of focus and bring fun interaction and freedom into mundane public outdoor seating. The result is a set of chairs with a unique visual symmetry that is bold, modern, and invites interaction.

What sets Para apart from other public outdoor furniture is its unique weight distribution. Most public outdoor furniture is either fixed or heavily weighted, offering no adjustability. Para, however, with its extremely low center of gravity, provides restrained mobility in flexible outdoor settings. The heavier bottom makes it easier to rotate and flip the chair to user-preferred positions.

The design realization of Para involves bent polycarbonate sheets supported by steel and polyethylene legs, filled with heavy fillings to increase weight. The technical specifications of the design are 620 mm x 620 mm x 820 mm. The chairs are transparent, further enhancing their modern aesthetic.

Para offers a unique interaction with its users. Para A supports 360-degree rotation around its base, and Para B supports bidirectional flipping. This design allows for flexible communal organization and communication, making heavy public furniture effortless to rearrange. With Para outdoor chairs, users can choose and change their sitting direction freely, offering a new view of the park every day.

The design process of Para, which took place in the USA from January to February 2020, involved extensive research into finding the optimal shape and balance for ergonomics and its unique symmetrical structure. The challenge was to create a set of outdoor park chairs that is modern and bold, and would have a degree of controlled flexibility for adjustable sitting and viewing direction.

In conclusion, Para is a testament to Mian Wei's innovative approach to design. This set of public outdoor chairs not only provides restrained flexibility in outdoor settings but also brings a bold playfulness to public spaces. With its unique symmetrical form and ability to adjust to user preferences, Para is truly a revolution in public outdoor seating.