The Typology Collection: Inspiring Uniquely Immersive Outdoor Experiences

“Typology is about sculptural, conspicuous forms that are functional, but more importantly stand out as works of art,” says Landscape Forms Chief Creative Officer, Kirt Martin. “Each component alone could be the centerpiece of a site, but when working in concert, the statement this collection makes is truly inspiring.”

Designed and engineered by Landscape Forms and Designworks, a BMW Group Company, the Typology Collection challenges preconceptions about site furnishing and lighting, creating installations that provide functional value yet also surprise, delight and enhance the landscape even when not in use.

For Tobias Adami, Creative Director at Designworks, a major design goal for the Typology Collection was to interact with and accentuate urban architecture through the innovative use of form and scale. “In cities we’re often lacking visual perspective, limited by a closed-in and claustrophobic view of the world,” describes Adami. “So, our intention with this collection is to play in both the vertical and horizontal spaces of urban environments, to draw the eyes up into the sky, and to join the two domains with signature design elements both in the air and on the ground.”

On the ground, the Typology ribbon bench serves as the flowing centerpiece for the collection. Modular segments with varying degrees of curvature enable the bench to meander seamlessly throughout the landscape. It defines spaces, connects spaces, guides pedestrians, and can even form amphitheater-like circular or semicircular hubs that encourage community interaction.

On each segment, a thin layer of extruded ultra-high performance concrete drapes like a mantle overcast metal supports to express an elegance, refinement, and seemingly impossible lightness. The central gap between the two concrete profiles serves as a mounting point for optional backrests, armrests and extended functional surfaces to be implemented in strategic locations throughout the installation. Emanating from within the ribbon bench, integral downward-facing lighting illuminates the space around the feature, eliminating glare and creating an illusion that the entire structure almost levitates.

In the sky, Typology ring lights and stick lights reach upward, artfully illuminating the space above and guiding people to the installation. Like ethereal floating halos, Typology ring lights are stunning fixtures recognized instantly from almost a mile away. A circular strip of LEDs creates a solid ring of ambient light that, when viewed from underneath, is like a looking glass to the sky. Typology stick lights break from lighting tradition such that the pole itself is one solid source of light. These vertical columns of warm white light stake claim to the site, accompanying the Typology ribbon bench across its diverse configurations, and creating prominent visual landmarks that draw people into the site.

Published on April 22, 2021