The Seafood Disco Studio Morison
Studio Morison have designed a long gently curving 60 seater picnic bench beside the Thames in the shape of a smile called the Seafood Disco. The work began in the studio with a bag of coconuts and the old Tommy Cooper joke, “I went to a seafood disco – and pulled a muscle”. The coconuts led to a playful form built from the fundamental geometries of the cone, cylinder and slab, with the recurring funfair motif of the hemisphere of the half coconut propping up stools and popping through table tops. Tommy Cooper’s joke connects the river and the pearlescent shells set within the unique terrazzo surface of the table and bench surfaces, as well as giving the table its joyful smile. This new public space also includes four Seafood Disco barbecues, creating a green space for people to gather, cook and eat together, whilst enjoying views of the river up past the Emirates Air Line and down to the Thames Barrier.