City Benches – London Festival of Architecture 2021
By Aldgate Connect BID, in partnership with London Festival of Architecture
01.06.2021
June 2021
As part of London Festival of Architecture (LFA), Aldgate Connect BID and Cheapside Business Alliance joined to install nine new public benches across the two areas.
Designed by an emerging group of international and interdisciplinary architects and designers, these benches brought life to the public realm across the City with their bold and imaginative designs, as London began to welcome visitors, commuters, and locals back to its streets post pandemic lockdowns.
The collection of benches each offered a fresh new take on bringing people back together post pandemic, providing a safe and inviting environment for people to meet again and enjoy the capital with a creative approach to the LFA’s 2021 theme of care.
Four benches were placed across key locations of Aldgate, with A Cuppa by The Mad Hatters coming to Middlesex Street in Petticoat Lane:
From matcha to chai, chá or sencha; tea is more than just preparing a drink. It is a cathartic ceremony that unites people, cultures and communities. Reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland’s Tea Party, where Alice’s fundamental concept of time is challenged, this bench invites everyone to pause and have A Cuppa. The exaggerated scale of the delicate teacup and saucer, coupled with its playful patterns and bold colour scheme, brings a sense of light-hearted bliss to the City. Crowned with lush planting which alludes to the essential elements of tea, the bench injects an additional touch of nature to its setting.