The first Big Bench with this particular design was constructed in 2010 by Chris Bangle on the Borgata grounds in Clavesana (Piedmont - Italy), where he resides and has is design firm, as an installation looking out onto the panorama and accessible to visitors. The idea of giant benches is not new, but the context is. The change in perspective due to the size of the bench makes one feel like a child, able to be amazed by the beauty of the landscape seen through new eyes. The bench in less then a year became a local attraction for visitors to the area. Chris Bangle: «It is a great lesson in the use of contextual innovation. We are so obsessed by discovering new things that we often deny ourselves the interesting feeling of experiencing well known things but in a different context».
Over the last years more official benches have been built in the surrounding area, without public funding, solely thanks to private sponsors. Chris Bangle freely provided the bench builders with designs and instructions, asking as the only condition that they be placed in a scenic position, on land accessible to the public, and that they respect the social spirit that gave birth to the original bench: not a private installation, but rather part of a collective experience that anyone coming to this region can share end experience.