See the 20 Semi-Finalists in Design Museum Boston’s Street Seats Challenge

Photos via Design Museum Boston

On Saturday, head over to Fort Point to check out 20 stylish outdoor seating designs that are competing in Design Museum Boston’s Street Seats Challenge.

Last September, the museum invited designers from around the world to take part in the challenge to create iconic benches for Fort Port Channel. The “street seats” needed to be artistic, innovative (it is in the Innovation District after all), as well as green—a primary focus of the challenge was creating environmentally conscious, sustainable public seating. Comfort was also a factor.

For the last two months, all 172 entries have been on view at the Design Innovation Gallery, but only 20 semi-finalists will be on view outdoors. A free celebration event will kick off the display on Saturday, and it will run through summer until October.

Among the semi-finalists that are benches from local designers including IDEO and Make Stuff Lab. The City Blocks bench from IDEO was inspired by, what else? Boston’s city blocks. And Make Stuff’s Chroma bench has a clear nautical theme, fitting for Fort Port Channel.

They’re joined by other talented designers from around the country and the world. Marco Goffi from Milan dreamt up a rope-cord inspired seat perfect for the Waterfront. And Diseno Neko of Mexico City designed the Ola Bench, a bright-colored curvy bench reminiscent of a section of a Mobius strip.

On Saturday, people can vote for their favorite design. The People’s Choice winner will receive $2,000. The three finalists in the competition will also be revealed, with the first and second-place winners ultimately receiving $5,000 and $2,000 respectively.

To see more photos of all 20 designs, as well as videos explaining each team’s inspiration, visit the Street Seats website. All of the designs will be on display at Fort Port Channel until October.