What with the realities of urban life, the design of municipal benches is subject to any number of creativity restricting limitations—leaving our city landscapes lined with fairly generic, sturdy, functional and all just a little uninspiring public seating.

Teaming up with the London Design Festival organisers this year, renowned British manufacturer Established & Sons have commissioned a series of one off benches for the V&A's epic John Madejski Garden space, specifying only the material each designer must use in their creation.

On a sunny day of festival going we snuck in some cheeky shots of revelers testing out the designer seating on display.

AL_A architects, creators of last years V&A doorway installation "Timber Wave" teamed up with Catalan ceramicists in Barcelona to produce their layered tile seating.

A magnificent, monolithic, mock-marble slab of bench from the guys at Industrial Facility.

Portuguese designer Fernando Brizio contributes a very Iberian pig hoof shaped bench made from his country's finest cork.

Jasper Morrison's smooth concrete creations with added funnels for water drainage—an important feature, as any Brit would tell you.

Designers of the 2012 Olympic Torch Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, produced this holey marble piece, inspired by the shrapnel marks in the V&A's facade left by World War 2 bombing.

Konstantin Grcic worked with Italian manufacturer Bisazza to create this glass mosaic bench that wouldn't look out of place at your local swimming pool.

Shiny Koons-esque tubular seating by Englishman Alexander Taylor .

Italian designer Martino Gamper's beautifully simple modular hardwood solution that can be extended ad infunitum.