New from Landscape Forms, the Link seating system presents a new opportunity for designers of outdoor spaces: to achieve the scalability, elegance and creative freedom of custom, one-off site furnishings with added value and simplicity of off-the-shelf solutions. Link’s uniquely adaptable design and modular components easily accommodate the constraints and nuances of any given site, both physically and aesthetically.

Link is a collaboration between Landscape Forms and sorelstudio, a renowned furniture design consultancy focused on developing solutions for office, healthcare, higher education, hospitality and outdoor environments. A kindred spirit of Landscape Forms, Jess Sorel’s creative work lies at the intersection of his artful approach and keen technical understanding. Driven by his desire to understand the context in which objects are made and used, Sorel’s primary focus is on interpreting the world around him as the evolution of culture and technology impact the way we live, work and play. Sorel’s work has been recognized both domestically and internationally with numerous industry awards and has been featured in Abitare, Azure, Blueprint, Contract, Domus, Dwell, Fast Company, I.D. Magazine, Interior Design and Metropolis.

"In designing Link, we were inspired by the concept of inevitability,” describes Jess Sorel. "Well-designed custom site furnishings integrate so elegantly and seamlessly into a landscape that they convey a ‘meant-to-be quality’—the feeling that they simply could not be designed any other way. With Link, we wanted to achieve this feeling of inevitable design, allowing for the ideal solution for any given space through flexibility, modularity and adaptability, just like a custom solution.”

Link enables descriptive, not prescriptive design. Its adaptable, modular nature seamlessly accommodates the real-life needs, aesthetics and topography of a given landscape rather than forcing that landscape to conform to the needs of a static site furnishing. “One of the driving factors behind Link was the seemingly simple idea of providing options, both for the landscape architect and the end user,” describes Landscape Forms Chief Creative Officer, Kirt Martin. "Link’s design is clean and elegant, but the system actually features quite sophisticated construction and engineering in order to create a product that is easy to install, offers our customers freedom and versatility they require, and maintains the quality of fit and finish that is characteristic of Landscape Forms.”

The options for Link are myriad and architecturally liberating. Inline or piano key orientations of the slats on the seats and backs allow for straight, mitered, arced, or even serpentine arrangements. Two different radii for the arced piano key orientation allow for varying degrees of curvature. Link benches can also be configured with or without backs and arms; and can be affixed with metal supports, concrete block bases, or in wall-mounted and top-of-wall mounted styles.

Link can be specified with steel supports or block bases which lend the bench a robust sense of permanence, while wall-mounted and top-of-wall mounted styles offer qualities of tension, balance, and levity.

The Link Planning Guide offers examples that demonstrate the different ways in which Link can be specified and the mechanics of how the modular components work together. This guide is by no means exhaustive, but rather a jumping off point intended to familiarize designers and whet the creative appetite with the new possibilities this innovative seating system can offer.