The History of Street Furniture
This isn't meant to be an absolute history backed up with stackd of evidence, merely my musings based on what I have picked up over the years - hope it's of some interest ...
What
It Is and Where It All Began
Street Furniture is one of those phrases that very few people relate to,
but which relates to them in more ways than they realise.
Street Furniture plays a role in peoples lives that is not often
realised, and as such is overlooked. Street Furniture surrounds people in
many ways in many arenas - lighting our way at night, directing us in traffic,
giving us plces to rest and sit and keeping us safe as pedestrians.
Although street furniture may be easily overlooked, it provides us
with interesting information and valid insights into some of the
ways that local authorities, the central government, designers, planners,
architects or even occasionally charitable associations intervened in
the environment to make it more pleasant or convenient for city residents.
It is widely understood that the Romans introduced the concept of
street furniture, using milestones and waymarkers on their ubiquitous
roads. Beyond this street furniture and its growth has been linked to the
developments in transport alongside an increasing population and urbanisation.
Urbanisation
and Street Furniture
Broadly speaking, modern street furniture of the types and with the uses
found in modern urban spaces, town and cities, owes many of its roots to the
growing need for lighting. Back as far as 1417, London was lit by gas
lanterns at certain times of the year. This is not confined to the UK either,
Paris was first lit by gas lighting in 1524.
Subsequent trends continued and the need for lighting public areas grew.
The movements of people from rural to urban areas and the burgeoning industrial
growth furthered these requirements.
By 1823 many of Britains towns and cities were lit by gas, and by 1859
gas lighting in the home, workplace and in the streets was all over Britain.
This in itself helped to forge the beginnings of the industrial revolution.
Whilst
street furniture in the form of gas ligting played its role in these
social and economic leaps forward, a wider development in street furniture was
taking place. Increases in urban populations and the subsequent increases
in transport requirements (firstly by horse and cart/carriage and latterly the
motor car) demanded that pedestrains get some protection. The bollard was
born. Exactly when is not clear but it is widely believed that out of service
cannon muzzles were used as bollards - cannons were turned on end with a
cannonball fixed into the aperture, they provided excellent protection. Even
today, the cannon pattern is a very popular and robust style
of bollard.
These
early bollards may not yet have had their own name though, the word ‘bollard’
may have come from the French/Norman word 'boulard’ which was a small wooden or
iron post used to tie up ships when in dock. Nowadays these are simply known
as mooring bollards.
Street
Furniture Through the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution saw major changes across Britain and indeed
the world. Much of the Industrial Revolution fell within the Victorian
Era, which itself saw the growth of the British Empire. The combination
of rapid, often chaotic changes in towns and cities fuelled by massive scale
urbanisation alongside the growth of the colonies and the development of new
world markets saw a coming of age for street furniture.
Urban areas were developed to create accommodation and new transport
networks. Pedestrian areas were also provided. The wealth created by the
industrial revolution meant that towns and cities could create their own
bollard patterns, which for the first time not only did a practical job but
were also placed for aesthetic reasons and to promote civic identity.
The growth of the railways also created an arena for the
development of street furniture. The wealthy rail companies created their
own bollard patterns and provided what was probably the first public seating
areas. Outdoor seating, mostly made from cast iron and timber, provided
rest for the weary traveller.
Beyond
the Industrial Revolution
Since the Industrial Revolution and the
Victorian Era ended, urban design and urban planning has seen its conception.
Urban design has taken street furniture’s humble foundations and developed
complicated coordinated schemes. Where once only timber and iron existed,
modern day street furniture is manufactured in steel, stainless steel, polyurethane,
granite, aluminium - in fact, if a material is robust enough for external use,
there is probably an item of street furniture made from it.
