Landscape Forms has introduced the Plains & Pods™ system of seating, surfaces, and planters created with renowned London-based design studio, Industrial Facility. As two sibling products, Plains & Pods are designed to work elegantly both together and independently, and are unified in their use of minimalist, non-prescriptive design to prioritize flexibility, adaptability, and user autonomy.
Rectilinear and architectural, Plains is comprised of large-format platforms and a trestle, varying in height and width to create customizable settings of layered seating and surfaces. Constructed of naturally weathering wood, powder-coated metal, or a combination thereof, Plains are offered in four widths, each with short and tall heights. Optional metal backs and attaching side tables allow the creation of installations with a level of detail rivaled by custom solutions. Plains can branch, network, stair-step, overlap, crisscross, create runs, and more to enable the full freedom of design in three dimensions.
Plains’ curvilinear counterpart, Pods, are seating and planters designed to be grouped together in multi-layered clusters of respite space and attractive greenery. Different groupings of Pods modules give users the opportunity to determine how they interact with space—large and open communal zones, areas for privacy, single seating, and quick individual touch-down points can be scattered to bring social and aesthetic depth to the landscape.
Rounded rectangles and squares ranging from individual to communal, Pods seating modules are crafted from bent and powder-coated sheet metal for their bases and naturally weathering wood caps for the seats. The Pods short planter modules mirror the shape and scale of the seats, while tall planter modules add height and a tiered effect to installations.
“This is one of those product systems that’s changing the narrative about how to use furniture in public space,” describes Landscape Forms Chief Innovation Officer Kirt Martin. “We’re seeing a lot of demand for these interactive, multi-dimensional site furnishings in the custom sphere, but Pods is the first standard product in our portfolio that combines these ideas of layers and multiple use cases.”
As fully-fledged product systems, both Plains & Pods individually bring depth, multi-functionality, and user freedom to the landscape, but together their impact is magnified. The interplay between Plains’ crisp right angles and Pods’ friendly curves offers added aesthetic richness, and combination installations create a variety of opportunities for different social experiences.
Landscape Forms Director of Design, Ryan Heiser, comments, “People can approach a Plains & Pods installation from 360˚ and determine exactly how they want to use it.” He adds, “Laying down, perching, sitting cross-legged, breaking down the division between ‘me space’ and ‘we space’—using Plains unlike a traditional bench feels much more natural because it’s not encoded with the same rules or expectations.”
Landscape Forms is a leading North American designer and manufacturer of high-design site furniture, structure, LED lighting, and accessories.
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