Design Furniture for Boston’s Fort Point Channel Design brings communities together. Public seating sets the scene for chance encounters, people watching, connecting with nature, or just taking a break.

Design Museum Boston invites individuals and groups from around the world to design an iconic bench or ‘street seat’ for the Fort Point Channel in South Boston’s up and coming Innovation District. The Street Seats Design Challenge provides you with an opportunity to improve the livability of a burgeoning urban area while being socially and environmentally conscious. Boston’s Fort Point Channel area is a lively community and destination — in 2011 the area welcomed about 1,300 businesses, 33,000 workers, and 1,900 residents — and it’s continuously expanding.

Be inspired by the rich history of the Fort Point community and the possibilities of Boston’s Innovation District to create public seating made from sustainable materials and processes.

Street Seats is a design challenge which will culminate in an outdoor design exhibition and walking tour around the Channel, on view from April to October 2013. Entrants will participate by designing sustainable outdoor sidewalk furniture with a focus on reuse, using environmentally-friendly materials, and innovative construction methods. Design teams will record and submit their process along with their final designs to, in the end, create the outdoor public design exhibition.

Street Seats is supported by the City of Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino — in July Design Museum Boston received a $20,000 grant, part of the Pilot Fort Point Watersheet Activation Grant Program administered by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

All Entries: All entries will be on view at the exhibition at Design Museum Boston’s Design Innovation Gallery at Factory 63 in Fort Point and featured on the Design Museum Boston website. Design credits will include name, professional or academic affiliation (if any), city, state, country, twitter handle and website (if any). The gallery will be curated by Design Museum Boston. Semi-Finalists: The Semi-Finalists will be selected by the Jury from the entries and announced at the gallery opening at Factory 63. All Semi-Finalist will receive promotion from Design Museum Boston as well as media coverage. Semi-Finalists will receive a US$750 reimbursement grant for use in fabricating their full-scale bench. All Semi- Finalists will be installed along the Fort Point Channel as part of the public design exhibition, on view for seven months. Finalists: Three finalists will receive trophies, promotion and media coverage, as well as cash prizes. Grand prize (1 entry): US$5000 cash prize. Runners-up (2 entries) will each receive a US$2000 cash prize.

Eligibility. The Street Seats Design Challenge is open to both local and international individuals and teams. Individuals, teams, professionals, and students are encouraged to contribute their designs. Multiple submissions from any one individual or team are permitted, although each entry must be submitted under a unique registration number. Employees of Design Museum Boston and their immediate family members are ineligible to take part in the Street Seats Design Challenge. Immediate family members and employees of Jurors are also ineligible.