7 Designs That Bring Creativity

September 8, 2026

By Vidar

Good public design can solve a problem and still make the street more interesting.

A giant umbrella shelters a doorway, tulip buds open into seats, and a crosswalk gets the red-carpet treatment.

These seven projects sit somewhere between public art and practical design. Some became landmarks; others were prototypes or temporary installations.

More: See 20 Designs That Bring Creativity

☂️ Giant Umbrella Awning — By an Uncredited Designer in Novosibirsk, Russia 🇷🇺

The umbrella leans over the pavement, as if someone far too big for the street left it behind. It covers the shop entrance, doubles as a sign, and has become a local landmark.

💡 Location Fact: The umbrella stands above a shop entrance at 29 Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street. Novosibirsk News dates the awning to the late 1990s. Makers of Siberia says it is often misattributed to architect Gennady Arbatsky, whose sculptures appear elsewhere in the district, but identifies it as a shop canopy. Neither local source names the designer.

More: See 12 Urban Design Ideas Every City Could Use

🌈 “Rainbow Stairs” — By Hüseyin Çetinel in Istanbul, Türkiye 🇹🇷

The formerly grey staircase runs uphill in bands of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. A handrail splits it down the middle.

💡 City Fact: Archnet records that retired forestry engineer Hüseyin Çetinel painted 145 steps between Fındıklı and Cihangir over four days in August 2013. They stand on Salıpazarı Yokuşu. Reuters reports that the municipality repainted them grey on 30 August 2013, prompting rainbow staircases elsewhere in Istanbul and Türkiye. Reuters also explains that a widely shared 2015 demolition photo showed infrastructure work; the stairs were later rebuilt and repainted. Çetinel said he wanted to make people smile, not make a political statement.

More: See How Rainbow Stairs Spread Across Türkiye

🟡 “Stadtmöbel DN_100” — By Oliver Schau in Hamburg, Germany 🇩🇪

Bright yellow drainage tubing is wrapped around an existing metal railing to make a seat. There is no concrete base or separate frame; the railing supports it.

💡 Design Fact: The Hamburg University of Fine Arts awarded Stadtmöbel DN_100 one of two first prizes in 2011, describing it as guerrilla design and a tool for empowerment. Studio Pitsch & Schau describes the original DN-100 series as public guerrilla seating made from drainage pipe to question the design, accessibility, and use of public space. The seats were conceived as temporary interventions rather than permanently anchored street furniture.

More: See 24 Creative Sculptures From Around the World

🎸 Guitar Player — By Alex Maksiov at Burnett Transit Center in Houston, Texas, USA 🇺🇸

From the right viewpoint, the painted stair risers line up to show a giant young guitarist. His open blue case is painted at street level, at the foot of the stairs.

💡 Transit Art Fact: Houston METRO identifies Maksiov as the artist and places the mural at Burnett Transit Center, 1450 North Main Street. METRO’s Arts in Transit account connects it to the 2022 Big Walls, Big Dreams festival, when more than a dozen murals were installed across four transit-oriented sites. The authority originally stated that the works would be displayed and maintained for at least one year.

More: See 10 Public Artworks Inspired by Books and Music

🔗 Follow Alex Maksiov on Instagram

🌷 Tulpi-Seats — By Marco Manders in the Netherlands 🇳🇱

Closed, they look like bright tulip buds. Open, they are individual chairs.

💡 Design Fact: Tulpi-Design’s official product page states that the seats are made from LLDPE plastic and stainless steel, are non-porous, and are 100% recyclable. The 2015 A’ Design Award profile credits Marco Manders and notes that each seat closes automatically when the user stands up and can rotate 360 degrees. Tulpi-Design also records that an independent jury named it Most Original Design and awarded it Good Industrial Design recognition at Dutch Design Week in 2011.

More: Explore 27 Benches That Turn Seating Into Art

🔗 Follow Tulpi-Design on Instagram

🎬 Red Carpet Crosswalk — By Roadsworth in Montréal, Canada 🇨🇦

Painted stanchions and yellow ropes frame the zebra crossing like a movie premiere. Anyone crossing gets the red-carpet treatment, whether they asked for it or not.

💡 Street Fact: A 2008 art-history paper documents a related “velvet rope” intervention by Roadsworth on St. Lawrence in Montréal. Art Public Montréal records that Peter Gibson began painting the city’s streets in 2001, initially prompted by the lack of bicycle lanes and Montréal’s car culture. Roadsworth’s official biography describes his stencil work in public space and notes that this early period was documented in the National Film Board co-production Roadsworth: Crossing the Line.

More: See 11 Street Interventions by Roadsworth

🔗 Follow Roadsworth on Instagram

👒 “La Corniche des Chapeaux” — By Benedetto Bufalino and Victor Vieillard in Marseille, France 🇫🇷

Six oversized hats shaded the concrete seats along Marseille’s waterfront. The two-day installation was temporary and left the panoramic view open.

💡 Installation Fact: Victor Vieillard’s official project page states that the proposal was exhibited at Maison de l’Architecture Marseille from 12 June to 8 July 2006, then installed for two days, 6–7 June 2007, on the Corniche Kennedy beside Plage du Prophète. Benedetto Bufalino’s documented artist file records six structures, each measuring 2 × 2 × 1.6 metres, made from resin, fiberglass, paint, metal, and concrete, with production by Centre Design Marseille.