Hanneke Lourens’ Leftover Bench Reimagines Public Seating

We’ve all been there – looking for a place to sit in a public space that just doesn’t have enough seating. Now imagine that being the norm, especially in lower-income areas, where public seating is more of a luxury than a given. In South Africa, this challenge is a lingering leftover of the apartheid era, which left the country with a severe deficit of safe, communal public spaces. Yet, in the face of this, South Africans have responded with everyday creativity, with people turning milk crates, stacked cinder blocks, or mismatched chairs into impromptu gathering spots. It’s this culture of inventive improvisation that inspired South African-born, California-based furniture designer Hanneke Louren’s Leftover Bench, a thoughtful reimagining of public seating that merges South African ingenuity with Californian craftsmanship.

Currently based in Northern California, Lourens is surrounded by the towering redwood trees that define the landscape. It was this environment, combined with her South African roots, that shaped her vision for the Leftover Bench. Created for Works in Progress, an exhibition series dedicated to amplifying the Bay Area design community, Lourens’ piece was part of a challenge for participants to reflect on and reimagine the public bench. The project is being showcased during San Francisco Art Week, adding to the dialogue about communal seating and its cultural significance.

The Leftover Bench takes its shape from a playful mix of forms: a stool, a bench, and a chair, all combined to create a communal seat. The bench is crafted entirely from savaged old-growth redwood, a nod to both her Californian surroundings but also the culture of repurposing that thrives in her homeland. Inspired by the inventive ways South Africans create their own gathering space, the Leftover Bench is a celebration of resourcefulness and togetherness – proof that even in scarcity, creativity can foster connection and community.

Hanneke Lourens

The Leftover Bench is on view as part of Works in Progress at the CCA Campus Gallery in San Francisco until February 7, 2025. To learn more about Hanneke Lourens, visit hannekelourens.com.

Photography courtesy of Hanneke Lourens.