A friend described her recent, one hour plane trip. Due to new security measures, passengers weren't allowed to have any books or gadgets in their laps for the duration of the brief trip. Clearly an absurd measure, but it did make me think that without distraction fellow passengers might actually start talking to each other.
Similarly, maybe if you were forced to sit on this "chair" by German designers Yvonne Fehling and Jennie Pelz you'd be more inclined to strike up a conversation, if about nothing else than the odd piece you're sitting on.
We spotted this creation on Chair Blog, which referred to it as an "awful combination of wooden chairs and stools into a bench." Sure, it is an awkward visual jumble. But we appreciate the playful commentary on isolation (of a single chair) and personal space versus potential socialization (of a bench) and expanding one's comfort zone.
Your take?
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If the chairs did not seem so randomly placed, I might agree. However, their placement seems haphazard and knees would be knocking into more than just your neighbor's, but also the bench!
Also, the success of places like Bryant Park suggest that moveable chairs are actually more conducive to creating social spaces because people can personalize the space regardless of much they actually move their seat.
I hate talking to people on planes. The last person I "spoke" to on a plane complained about her elderly mother-in-law for the entire flight.
If you travel for business, chatting with the stranger next to you isn't a feature, it's a bug. I'm naturally chatty, but enforced socializing is abhorrent.
i love this bench soo much.
"If you travel for business, chatting with the stranger next to you isn't a feature, it's a bug. I'm naturally chatty, but enforced socializing is abhorrent."
this was my first reaction too. I'm not a hermit, but making small talk on a weekly basis with strangers on a plane drives me crazy. plane time = quiet time for me.
Yikes. Flying without iPod or book/magazine is making me anxious just thinking about it. Having to make clumsy small talk with co-flyers while in a small space thousands of feet above the ground = nightmare.
The bench is an interesting take on the nature of personal space and the barriers we put up with those we don't know.
Worse than the seatbacks that would force you to bump knees....what about the seatback that forces you to sit with your legs straddling the entire rectangular width of the bench? Ugh/
All I can think about is what would happen if a game of musical chairs broke out...
This looks like something out of a chair horror film :O
crazy fun sculpture ... thanks for sharing