History of Furniture: The Conversation Pit

For this installment, let's look at something that is not so much an actual piece of individual furniture as much as it is a structure: The Conversation Pit.

Although sunken seating has roots far back in history, particularly in Asian countries, interior design lore suggests that the first real conversation pit as we know it today was created by Bruce Goff, an American architect, for a home he designed in 1927. Conversation pits became something of a signature in his home designs but it wasn't until the 1950s that the idea caught fire and spread, showing up in the 60s, 70s, even into the 80s!

Perhaps one of the best known examples of a conversation pit is in the Miller House, the mid-century masterpiece designed by Eero Saarinen with interiors by the incomparable Alexander Girard. It was Girard who suggested the conversation pit so as not to clutter the space with furniture pieces that would have impeded the view and interrupted the lines of Saarinen's architecture.

Another spectacular example of a conversation pit, on a grand scale, is another Saarinen design: the TWA Terminal at JFK which is now the fabulously retro TWA Hotel!

Conversation pits could be found in ordinary residential designs as well!

Eventually, like any element from pretty much any era, conversation pits started to look dated and fell out of favor. But word is they are making a comeback in interior architecture and design. Here is a current, superb example by architect Craig Steely who embedded a marvelous sunken pit into the concrete foundation of a home in the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Steely says the pit "is filled with 144 sq. ft. of B&B Italia’s 'Tufty time' sofa components." In deep purple. Delightful.

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Memphis

For this installment of the History of Furniture, we jump back just a few decades to the 1980s to examine the furniture/interior/art movement phenomenon known as Memphis.

The name might be deceiving: the movement has nothing to do with the southern city in the United States nor the ancient city in Egypt. Arising in 1981 from a group of designers in Milan, Italy led by architect Ettore Sottsass, the name of the group is derived, surprisingly enough, from a Bob Dylan song, "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again." Tired of functionality only, Sottsass aimed to create a style that incorporated a sense of playfulness and sensuality.

Retail consultant Bertrand Pellegrin recently--and hilariously--described Memphis as a "shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price." And he is not too far off. Take a look at the riot of color, mostly primary, and the big blocky shapes. 1980s design was certainly bold and nothing historically illustrates this more for us than Memphis. Angularity, asymmetry, geometric shapes, and thick overexagerated lines make up the Memphis look which is a mash-up of movements like Art Deco and Pop Art, including styles such as 1950s Kitsch (hence the stylized fake granite on laminate) and futuristic themes.

One of the most iconic designs from the movement--and perhaps the poster child for post modern Milanese design in general--is Ettore Sottsass' Carlton piece. A set of open shelving and a very small set of drawers is presented in a spiky silhouette that recalls cuneiform writing--it is at once a bookcase, a dresser, or a room divider and is often described as all three.

This graphic, thick-lined style also recalls another artist working at the time, Keith Haring (previously here). The fake 1950s granite laminate on Sotsass's Casablanca Sideboard even resembles a small Haring pattern, and the form recalls many of Haring's dancing figures. Indeed, many Memphis pieces would have benefited form being covered with Haring's signature black doodles.

California sculptor, artist, and designer Peter Shire created the Bel Air chair for the Memphis movement which was featured prominently on the cover of the most widely distributed book on the group (authored by Barbara Radice). Notice how the back of the chair incongruously sports what appears to be a beach ball.

The First Chair created in 1983 by Michele de Lucchi is minimal by Memphis standards yet just as bold and graphic...

...and would look great paired with de Lucchi's Flamingo Sidetable.

Marco Zanini's Dublin sofa harks back to furniture designs from the 1950s.

Japanese designer Masanori Umeda met Sotsass while the pair were working for Olivetti, and Sotsass invited him to particapte in the Memphis movement. Umeda came up with "Tawaraya," a boxing ring conversation pit. The second photo shows the original Memphis group piled in the middle of this creation in 1981!

Certainly the most whimsical piece of Memphis furniture is the six-bulb Super Lamp by Martine Bedin which can be trailed along like a dog on a leash...your own little pet lamp!

Happy designing!