Parkly Launches its first “Parkly & Friends” product together with Niilo Tenkanen
Something new is bubbling! Since its founding, Parkly has been driven by a desire to build creative collaborations with like-minded planners, designers and changemakers. Placemaking is at the core of our practice at RaivioBumann — the urban agency behind Parkly — and that same spirit shapes how we approach the design and implementation of everything we bring to market.
Parkly & Friends — for products we truly believe in
Parkly & Friends is a new channel dedicated to making room for outstanding urban furniture solutions that, in our view, play a defining role in how a place truly comes to life. While people are what make a place alive, furniture — its functionality, flexibility, comfort and, often, a pop of colour — matters enormously. In placemaking especially, the ability to support multiple ways of use is key.
“Through this collaboration, we aim to broaden our offering, enhancing our modular system while making thoughtfully curated furniture selections more accessible to a wider audience.”
Daniel Bumann, Design Director, Co-Founder, Parkly
The Story of a Movable Chair
The movable chair is the “ultimate placemaking furniture” — and some cities are already leading the way. Swiss cities and many other European counterparts , for example, have thousands of movable chairs distributed across the city. The movable chair is gradually making its way into planning culture, offering citizens more freedom and trust. Cities come alive when people can choose where they sit and in what sized groups — and the movable chair is the perfect antidote to hostile architecture.
“We believe cities often have too few places to sit down and support diverse communities . Alongside long traditional benches, wider benches, modular seating and the movable chair holds its own — and in our experience, it sees some of the most active use of all.”
Päivi Raivio, Project Director, Co-Founder, Parkly
NIILO Chair — Born Out of Curiosity for “What If?”
The NIILO Chair was designed and prototyped by Niilo Tenkanen, a landscape architect with a placemaking spirit, as part of his master’s thesis in Creative Sustainability at Aalto University. The campus became his testing ground — and the power of just six chairs was enough to show how a space could come alive, on sunny days, grey days and even in winter. The project went viral, a fun video capturing something simple but undeniable – see it below. Stackable, practical, movable – important features for all the urban realm!
“I designed the chair to bring more public life to squares and spaces that lack seating. What was meant to be a short-term intervention outside Aalto University metro station became an ongoing one — the chairs proved so popular they are still there today. I am so excited that Parkly is continuing the story and making them more widely available!”
Niilo Tenkanen, Designer, Leuto Landscape
