IBM decided to turn street ads into urban city furniture to promote the “Smarter Cities” program which focuses on comfortable urban living. Their “People for Smarter Cities” project uses a different approach to the standard big signs and billboard advertisements. Their approach was to create a three dimensional structure with 2 purposes: to visually promote the program but also as a functional form to be used by the community. Three metal spray painted signs were made, one simply curved at the bottom to double up as a bench, another was flipped upside down to create a shelter for the rain and the last one folded over concrete steps to provide a useful ramp. All of these ads featured a message that inspired the community to share their ideas on the “People for Smarter Cities” online hub and make their area a more comfortable place to live.
