Designing a Universal Table for Chinese Pokers

Existing Condition: Chinese Pokers in Portsmouth Square, San Francisco Chinatown. Very minimal set-up: recycled cardboard on top of the separating middle arm as the "playing ground".

Existing Condition: One bench = four players + interested onlookers. These cardboards are fragile, unstable (note people use water bottle and stones to anchor the corner of the cardboard), easy to crack and torn apart, potentially disturbing the fun!

Existing Condition: One bench = four players + interested onlookers.

Existing Condition: Setting up the stage.

Existing Condition: Different kinds of games (Xiang Qi, Wei Qi (GO), Qiao Pai, Dou Di Zhu or other card games, etc.)

Existing Condition: In the NE corner entrance of the park, some one added (or original design?) this Xiang Qi board on top of a square sitting bench, which I found was brilliant.

Existing Condition: More onlookers.

Existing Condition: On a regular weekend day during the Pandemic (2021.3), there was FULL of activities here happening on these benches.

International Cases: the Riverfront Park, Changsha, Hunan Province, China. https://kknews.cc/zh-my/travel/gzyvyy8.html

Aha! This is probably a more comfortable way of playing card games! But note that these little seats and the "tables" (a plastic stool flipped over + a wooden board) are all temporary.

Reflection: Is there a universal principle for how bench is? Do people of all cultures just enjoy lying on it? Or should we think a little differently, with a practical (and effective) design?

Reflection: traditional design came from 1860s' France - it is designed as half a meter wide so you can't sleep on it. Usually they also serve an esthetic purpose as a showing furniture piece.

Ergonomic is the new trend for bench design - Yet these kind of stationary modern designs look expensive? (Stoss Landscape Urbanism)