WHAT I’VE GOT – SOOFA BENCH

I don’t actually got this, but I have sat on it! It’s the Soofa — a smart bench for smart cities. I’m fascinated by this design because where most smart city infrastructure is boring (or overtly authoritarian), this one tries to be fun!

In form, the Soofa is your basic city street furniture, with a housing for a solar panel and some charging ports attached in the middle. But in practice, it’s a conversation starter and point of interest. They’ve been installed all over Cambridge and Boston, and I’ve personally seen them become conversation and party starters. Sit down, plug in your speakers, and a street is transformed into a community space. It’s a great — in my opinion — rethinking of an everyday item, tailored to cities and environments of the 21st century.