CGD

David Karásek and Radek Hegmon established mmcité during their studies of design at the Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design; that was more than 22 years ago. Since then, their benches, city travel stops, waste baskets, bicycle stands, information racks, protective tree grills and other street furniture can be found in most varied parts of the world. In the supermodern Dubai as well as in an ancient Austrian abbey or in the midst of the urban development, Ørestad, in south Copenhagen, planned by the BIG studio. The fact that mmcité is up to date with the times was confirmed by their Smartcité collection which David Karásek described as follows: "We took our successful products and developed several new accessories for them. The more decorative one is the LED backlight, which enhances atmosphere, highlights the furniture's geometry and increases the feeling of safety. Because street lights are not installed everywhere, their function can be in part substituted for by the very street furniture. The more technical element is the integrated USB charging and, eventually, also a Wi-Fi source. We prepared these pleasures for our four lines of park benches – Woody, Blocq and Radium, accompanied by the Rivage chaise longue." And the round steel table, Stolki, newly integrated into benches, looks best when combined exactly with Rivage. It is realized in various colors and offers space for putting down a book, a drink or a computer. If the previous solutions enriched the existing products with smart elements, the Eblocq with six integrated lockable boxes is a completely new model. It is mainly aimed at cyclists, providing them with a space to keep their helmet or other personal objects, and in the case that they ride an electric bicycle, they can charge it via a 230V socket, and do the same with their phones or tablets via other USB ports.

Danica Kovářová