Public space

For us, public space is a place of dispute and proposal, where our pieces acquire extra value. Where everything is taken for granted and nothing stands still, we create small oases where not everything is as it seems, promoting philosophical questioning and the experience of seduction that comes with approaching and touching to understand.
The boundary between the public and the private is a very rich space to navigate and operate from. The image of an abandoned armchair on the street seems to be part of the collective unconscious, but that image alone isn't the starting point for this line of benches for public spaces. Contradictions are part of our DNA, poetry, the seduction that comes with approaching and touching to understand, the copy and the original, and appearances that deceive us by revealing our prejudices and the automatism of everyday life.

This line of concrete benches is part of the permanent collection of MAMBA (Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art) and has been featured in some of the world's most important festivals, including 100% Design 2010 in London, DMY 2011 in Berlin, and the Saint-Étienne Biennial in France, among others.

In 2014, it won an award in the "Urban Design" category at RED DOT, the most prestigious international design award held in Essen, Germany. Since 2015, it is part of the official urban furniture of the City of Buenos Aires and can be found in public spaces at various points throughout the city and throughout downtown Buenos Aires.

PH: Grupo Bondi // Dagurke


Hyperrealistic concrete


"Bored by their aristocratic life, they turned to stone to be able to withstand the elements, live outdoors, sleep under the stars, and stay connected to life."

Urban furniture that recreates private pieces and places them in public spaces. It's a bench for sitting and for thinking about sitting.

Ten years ago, the first upholstery benches appeared in downtown Buenos Aires. Suddenly, an abandoned bench on the street, a block of textured concrete, and the touch of anyone who, in the middle of the urban rush, stops to touch it. What is a plush sofa doing on the street? Design, when it responds solely to the market, offers no essential value other than pleasure, but pursues pure satisfaction, a passive recep- tion that only seeks consumers. The upholstery benches call out from a contradictory illusion; they burst into our rhythm with arrogance, challenge the act of sitting because they mock us: believing them to be soft certifies, then, the breaking of that pact. There is no original, no copy: it is the public expression of what is private, of artifice, of functionality. It does not support mimesis, it does not promise certainties or solutions, it does not make us feel secure; it is an aesthetic-political gesture that, with time and the elements, does not deteriorate, does not change, does not promise anything. And that’s what bothers us, raises questions, reveals lies, questions the intimate.

(Luciana Barruffaldi)


This is a line of concrete benches designed for public use. Manufactured by forming concrete into flexible molds, a unique technological process locally, regionally, and globally, developed by Grupo Bondi since 2008.
This production process allows for the creation of complex pieces with undercuts, excellent surface finishes with textile-like textures, and soft morphologies impossible to achieve using traditional casting methods. This added high value to a common material like cement. These objects, while incorporating all the necessary characteristics for public use, function as both utilitarian and artistic pieces.


Buenos Aires bench

PH: Dagurke // Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2008 // act.
Dimensions: 130cm x 60cm x 42cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete with cast iron legs
Weight: 160kg



Greater Buenos Aires bench

PH: Grupo Bondi

Year: 2016 // act.
Dimensions: 200cm x 60cm x 42cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete with cast iron legs
Weight: 250kg



Greater Buenos Aires bench with backrest

PH: Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2016 // act.
Dimensions: 200cm x 60cm x 70cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete with cast iron legs
Weight: 300kg



Trompito bench

PH: Dagurke // Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2014 // act.
Dimensions: 40cm x 40cm x 42cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete with cast iron legs
Weight: 50kg



M. banquito

PH: Grupo Bondi

Year: 2008 // act.
Dimensions: 50cm x 45cm x 30cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete
Weight: 60kg



Table-cloth

PH: Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2016 // act.
Dimensions: 80cm x 80cm x 40cm // 75cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete with iron legs
Weight: 180kg



Bollard

PH: Grupo Bondi

Year: 2016 // act.
Dimensions: 37cm x 37cm x 42cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete
Weight: 60kg



Cushion

PH: Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2010 // act.
Dimensions: 65cm x 65cm x 19cm // 40cm x 40cm x 10cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete
Weight: 65kg // 15kg



Pots

PH: Grupo Bondi // Javier A. Rojas

Year: 2017 // act.
Dimensions: 70cm x 70cm x 81cm // 52cm x 52cm x 61cm // 80cm x 80cm x 41cm
Material: Full-mass colored reinforced concrete
Weight: 300kg // 135kg // 175kg



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Available stock here // For orders here

GRUPO BONDI is made in Argentina, supports the Argentine industry!!!!