The Church of England has announced a competition for design students, leading designers, manufacturers and contractors to design new church seating.
The C of E pres soffice states: The Church of England is responsible for 16,000 parish churches, 12,500 of which are listed, and, as for all developments in church buildings, aspires to the highest quality design for new chairs.
The competition has two categories:
1. Design a chair under £100 – open to students and recent graduates (cash prize and opportunity to pitch to manufacturers).
2. Design a seat (chair or bench) for churches – open to all.
Janet Gough, Director of the Archbishops’ Council’s Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, said: “We want to encourage chair designs to enhance the buildings they are placed in and to be celebrated by present and future generations.
“In our experience some re-ordering schemes are being compromised by the installation of unsuitable chairs which fail to complement historic interiors whilst others fail to meet the objectives of the parish in practical terms. We want to inspire a new generation of designers and furniture makers to engage with this issue.”
More at:
http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2012/01/design-a-church-chair!.aspx