Mykolas Seckus and Antonio Gandolfo Design Scalable One by One Urban Furniture

A Flexible Modular System that Empowers Businesses to Create, Expand, and Reconfigure Urban Spaces According to Their Evolving Needs

Picture the following scenario: a hospitality brand opens a new venue in a revitalized industrial district. Summer arrives with long evenings and outdoor gatherings, and suddenly the modest outdoor seating area feels inadequate. Winter brings quieter months, and that same sprawling terrace sits mostly empty, looking forlorn. The following year, a music festival wants to partner with the venue, requiring a stage platform that simply does not exist. Each situation demands a different spatial configuration, yet traditional street furniture sits there, immovable and unchanging, refusing to accommodate changing circumstances.

What if outdoor furniture could breathe alongside your business? What if the same elements that form a cozy seating area could transform into an urban farm, an event platform, or a pocket park simply by adding or subtracting components? The question of adaptable outdoor furniture sits at the heart of an innovative approach to urban furniture that treats outdoor spaces as living, evolving ecosystems rather than static arrangements.

Mykolas Seckus, a landscape architect, and Antonio Gandolfo, an industrial designer, have developed a modular urban furniture system called 1x1 that addresses precisely the challenge of spatial flexibility. The collaboration between Seckus and Gandolfo merges landscape thinking with product design sensibility, resulting in furniture that scales in three dimensions and adapts to whatever circumstances your business encounters. The 1x1 system earned recognition through the A' Design Award, receiving the Golden award in the Street and City Furniture Design category in 2020. The Golden A' Design Award recognition highlights the system's innovative approach to solving a genuine challenge that businesses, municipalities, and property developers face when creating outdoor environments.

The following exploration examines how modular thinking in street furniture creates tangible value for organizations investing in their outdoor presence.

Understanding the Economics of Adaptable Urban Spaces

Businesses investing in outdoor furniture typically face a peculiar predicament. Organizations must make decisions today about spaces that will serve tomorrow's unknown needs. A restaurant expands its customer base and needs more seating. A corporate campus hosts a company-wide celebration requiring temporary gathering areas. A retail development attracts a farmers market that needs flexible configurations week to week. Traditional furniture purchases lock organizations into fixed arrangements that serve initial requirements but struggle to accommodate evolution.

The 1x1 system approaches the challenge of future-proofing outdoor spaces through what the designers describe as a family of urban furniture elements that work both as standalone pieces and as building blocks for larger configurations. A bench remains a bench when you need a bench. But that same bench becomes part of a larger seating area, or connects to planters, or supports an elevated platform when circumstances shift. The frame structure remains constant while the configuration changes.

The adaptability of the 1x1 system carries meaningful implications for how organizations budget for outdoor spaces. Rather than purchasing entirely new furniture sets when needs change, businesses can add components incrementally. The standardized connections mean new elements integrate seamlessly with existing ones. Think of outdoor furniture that grows with your organization rather than furniture that gets replaced when your organization grows.

The economic model shifts from capital expenditure on fixed assets to strategic investment in flexible systems. Organizations gain the ability to test configurations before committing to larger installations. A small initial setup proves the concept, and expansion happens only when actual demand justifies expansion. The incremental approach aligns outdoor furniture investment with observed business performance rather than projected optimism.

The Three Dimensional Advantage in Urban Furniture Design

Most modular furniture systems expand horizontally. You add more benches beside existing benches. You place additional tables near current tables. The ground plane fills up, but vertical space remains untouched. The 1x1 system distinguishes itself by enabling growth in all three dimensions, including upward.

Vertical capability opens possibilities that horizontal-only systems cannot achieve. A standard seating arrangement can incorporate elevated platforms for performances or presentations. Planters can stack to create living walls that define spaces and provide greenery without consuming ground area. Lighting elements rise on the same structural framework, maintaining visual coherence while serving practical illumination needs.

The designers drew inspiration from scaffolding structures, which achieve remarkable vertical configurations using standardized components. Seckus and Gandolfo also referenced systems thinking from modular shelving designs that stack and connect in multiple directions. The result transfers these principles to outdoor urban contexts, where vertical expression has traditionally been limited.

For businesses operating in dense urban environments where ground space commands premium value, vertical modularity offers strategic advantages. A coffee shop with limited sidewalk frontage can create visual presence through vertical elements while keeping walking paths clear. An outdoor market can define booth areas with planters that stack rather than spread. Corporate campuses can create distinct zones within open plazas by building upward rather than outward.

The structural frame that enables three-dimensional growth uses consistent components regardless of configuration. The same pipes, connections, and fixing methods work whether assembling a simple bench or an elaborate multi-level installation. The consistent component approach simplifies procurement, reduces spare parts inventory, and means maintenance personnel learn one system rather than multiple different approaches.

Material Intelligence and Production Considerations

The 1x1 system employs three primary materials: timber, concrete, and steel. Each material contributes specific qualities while the standardized frame structure ensures the materials work together harmoniously. Local or Baltic birch provides warmth and natural character. Precast concrete offers mass and durability. Stainless steel delivers structural integrity and weather resistance.

The designers emphasized manufacturing optimization throughout development. All elements manufacture off-site and arrive ready for assembly. No complex geometry requires specialized fabrication equipment. Concrete components come precast. Timber parts cut using conventional machinery. Steel elements weld from semi-finished stock. The manufacturing approach means production can happen in standard facilities without exotic tooling requirements.

For organizations commissioning outdoor furniture, the production characteristics translate to practical advantages. Lead times remain predictable because manufacturing does not depend on scarce specialized capabilities. Multiple fabricators can produce components to specification, providing supply chain flexibility. Repairs and replacements draw from the same standardized component library, eliminating the frustration of discontinued parts.

The material palette also carries maintenance implications. Timber requires periodic attention but offers renewable character. Concrete develops patina over time rather than deteriorating. Stainless steel resists corrosion in outdoor exposure. Organizations can plan maintenance schedules around predictable material behaviors rather than discovering unexpected degradation.

Transportation efficiency receives attention as well. The modular approach means shipping standard components rather than bulky assembled furniture. More units fit in transportation vehicles. Assembly happens on-site using straightforward methods. For organizations installing furniture at multiple locations, shipping efficiency compounds into meaningful logistics savings.

From Coffee Shop Corner to Festival Stage

The range of applications for the 1x1 system spans from modest to ambitious. A small business owner needing a few seats outside their establishment represents one end of the spectrum. A municipality seeking a medium-scale public space intervention represents the other end. The same system serves both because the fundamental elements work at any scale.

Consider the small business scenario. A new bakery opens in a neighborhood and wants a pleasant spot where customers can enjoy pastries outdoors. Two benches and a planter create an inviting arrangement. Business grows, and the owner adds another bench module. Summer brings demand for shade, and a vertical structure supports a canopy element. Fall arrives with fewer outdoor customers, and the configuration scales back. Each adjustment uses the existing framework without discarding previous investments.

Now consider the municipal scenario. A city seeks to activate underutilized space in a post-industrial district. The 1x1 system enables phased development aligned with available budgets and observed community response. Initial installation tests the concept with seating clusters. Positive reception justifies expansion into larger gathering areas. Special events prompt temporary configurations that disassemble afterward. The public realm grows organically rather than appearing all at once based on projections.

The designers specifically envisioned seasonal and event-based adaptability. An area might host a music festival once annually, requiring stage platforms and crowd management structures that serve no purpose the remaining fifty-one weeks. Modular elements assemble for the event and return to everyday configurations afterward. The investment serves multiple purposes throughout the year rather than sitting idle between special occasions.

The flexibility of the 1x1 system extends to mixed-use developments where different tenants have different needs. Ground-floor retail wants customer seating. Upper-floor offices want employee lunch areas. Building management wants event capability for community gatherings. A modular system allows each constituency to get what the constituency needs while maintaining visual coherence across the property.

Strategic Considerations for Brand Expression

Outdoor furniture contributes to how people perceive and experience a brand. The spaces surrounding a business location communicate values, quality expectations, and organizational personality. Generic furniture sends one message. Thoughtfully designed furniture sends another. Modular systems that adapt and evolve send a message about responsiveness and dynamism.

The industrial aesthetic of the 1x1 system, with visible frame structure and honest material expression, suits certain brand personalities particularly well. Organizations that value transparency, functionality, and straightforward design find resonance with furniture that shows how the furniture works. The scaffolding-inspired structural logic communicates capability and engineering intelligence. Exposed connections suggest practical problem-solving rather than decorative concealment.

The industrial aesthetic emerged from the designers' inspiration source. Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, a post-industrial area with maritime history and creative reuse, informed the visual language. The resulting furniture feels appropriate in contexts where industrial heritage, maker culture, or creative enterprise define the setting. Technology companies, craft breweries, design studios, and similar organizations often occupy precisely these kinds of environments.

Brand expression through furniture also happens through configuration choices. A brand emphasizing community and connection might cluster seating to encourage interaction. A brand emphasizing focus and productivity might create individual workstations within the modular framework. A brand emphasizing wellness might incorporate planters and greenery prominently. The same furniture family supports divergent brand expressions through arrangement rather than requiring different furniture for different messages.

Organizations can explore the award-winning 1x1 modular urban furniture design to understand how configuration possibilities might serve their specific brand requirements and spatial contexts.

The Post-Industrial Context and Urban Regeneration

Cities worldwide contain districts undergoing transformation from industrial to mixed-use purposes. Former warehouses become creative offices. Abandoned factories become entertainment venues. Shipyards become residential neighborhoods. These transitions require public realm infrastructure that matches the evolving character of the areas undergoing transformation.

The 1x1 system emerged from direct observation of a transforming post-industrial context. Refshaleøen, the Copenhagen island that inspired the design, represents a post-industrial site actively seeking its next chapter. The designers recognized that areas like Refshaleøen often lack extensive public realm development. Budgets go toward building renovation before outdoor space improvement. Yet outdoor spaces significantly influence how people experience and value transitioning districts.

Modular furniture systems offer particular advantages in regeneration contexts. Installation can happen incrementally as budgets allow. Configurations can shift as tenant mixes evolve and community needs clarify. Temporary installations can test ideas before permanent commitments. The furniture itself becomes part of the experimental, adaptive character that defines successful urban regeneration.

For developers and property owners working on urban transformation projects, the adaptability of modular systems aligns with the inherent uncertainty of regeneration efforts. Nobody knows exactly how a former industrial district will evolve. The businesses that will eventually thrive there remain unknown. The community that will form around the businesses takes shape over years. Furniture that adapts alongside urban evolution serves the project better than furniture locked into initial assumptions.

The post-industrial aesthetic that emerges from the 1x1 design also contributes meaningfully to regeneration contexts. Rather than attempting to disguise industrial heritage, the furniture celebrates industrial heritage. Exposed structure, honest materials, and functional clarity connect to the architectural character of adaptive reuse buildings. The furniture belongs in the context rather than appearing imported from somewhere else.

Building Toward Dynamic Urban Ecosystems

The designers articulated a compelling vision for how modular furniture might support dynamic urban environments. Seckus and Gandolfo imagined sites where modules could assemble into large structures for major events and then redistribute into program clusters for everyday use. Elements could migrate between locations based on real-time needs. Seasonality would drive configuration changes without requiring new purchases. The furniture system would function as an ecosystem rather than a static installation.

The vision for dynamic deployment has meaningful implications for how organizations think about outdoor space investment. Traditional approaches treat furniture as fixed assets assigned to specific locations permanently. The ecosystem approach treats furniture as a fleet of flexible resources deployed wherever the resources create the most value at any given moment. Utilization rates improve because elements serve multiple purposes rather than sitting idle when original purposes are not active.

Imagine a mixed-use development with the ecosystem mindset. Summer weekends see furniture concentrated around an outdoor dining area supporting restaurant tenants. Weekday lunches redistribute elements to create employee gathering spaces near office entrances. Special events pull modules into a central plaza for large assemblies. Each configuration emerges from actual demand rather than predicted patterns.

The technology for managing dynamic deployment remains straightforward. No sophisticated tracking systems required. The furniture moves when people move the furniture. The modular connections enable assembly and disassembly without specialized tools or training. The investment is in the initial furniture acquisition. The ongoing value comes from thoughtful deployment of that capability over time.

Organizations developing long-term strategies for their outdoor spaces might consider how the ecosystem approach differs from conventional furniture purchasing. The initial investment purchases capability rather than fixed arrangements. Future value comes from thoughtful deployment of that capability over time.

Where Flexibility Meets Commitment

The questions posed by modular urban furniture challenge conventional thinking about outdoor space development. How much flexibility does your organization actually need? What scenarios would benefit from reconfiguration capability? Where does the value of adaptability justify the investment in a modular system?

The 1x1 system provides one answer to these questions. The three-dimensional scalability of the system, standardized components, optimized manufacturing, and industrial aesthetic serve specific contexts and specific organizational needs. The A' Design Award recognition highlights the design community's assessment that the 1x1 approach represents meaningful innovation in street furniture thinking.

Yet the broader insight extends beyond any single furniture system. Urban spaces that serve businesses, institutions, and communities benefit from design approaches that acknowledge uncertainty and accommodate change. The organizations that thrive in contemporary environments often share characteristics of flexibility, responsiveness, and continuous adaptation. The outdoor spaces of thriving organizations might reasonably reflect these same qualities.

For brands and enterprises considering their outdoor presence, the fundamental question becomes worth pondering: does your outdoor furniture support who you are becoming, or only who you were when you installed the furniture?