{"id":656525,"date":"2026-08-26T00:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T00:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/656525\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T00:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T00:08:16","slug":"supaform-on-creating-a-conversation-pit-for-the-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/656525\/","title":{"rendered":"supaform on creating a conversation pit for the 21st century"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supaform\u2019s reinterpretation of the conversation pit<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Whatever happened to the conversation pit<\/strong><\/a>? It\u2019s a question that arises every few years when reinterpretations of the mid-century seating system, carved into the floor of a living room, reappear on the big screen. The 2025 Fantastic Four film features a dreamy powder blue one. Kelly Wearstler and Masastudio created a plush gray one in a California home in 2023, and the Paulin Paulin Paulin seating system (though a standalone couch) is a celebrity favorite that pops up in music videos, fashionable events, and the homes of the tastefully famous. Nevertheless, this particular style waxes and wanes in popularity every few years.<\/p>\n

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At Alcova\u2019s 2026 Milan Design Week event, a big green seating area, not too dissimilar from the classic \u2018conversation pit,\u2019 became a central zone for chats, talks, and music during the week. It was the work of Paris<\/strong><\/a>-based design studio Supaform\u2019s Maxim Shcherbakov. Watching how people danced, gathered, chatted, and gravitated toward his installation, Transit Encounters, it became clear that the legacy of the retro conversation pit was alive and thriving.<\/p>\n

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Paris-based design studio Supaform\u2019s Maxim Shcherbakov discusses Transit Encounters and conversation pits | all images courtesy of Supaform<\/p>\n

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Finding the \u2018aura\u2019 of Transit Encounters<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018I noticed that a sofa doesn\u2019t really end where its physical dimensions end. I often find myself sitting on the floor opposite the coffee table, leaning my back against the sofa, and so on. A classic sofa occupies a certain amount of space within a room, and without even realizing it, we also interact with what you might call its aura,\u2019 Shcherbakov tells designboom<\/strong> of the similarities and differences between Supaform<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s work and the classic conversation pit. \u2018I think this is what inspired me to find that aura and extend the sofa beyond its physical boundaries.\u2019<\/p>\n

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the conversation pit\u2019s particular style waxes and wanes in popularity every few years<\/p>\n

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Supaform\u2019s take on the mid-century piece<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Transit Encounters consists of plush, velvet green cushions that all revolve around a central space: a low-to-the-ground table with a built-in turntable system. There are aesthetic departures this seat makes from its mid-century inspiration\u2014it\u2019s above ground instead of recessed, and its rigid cream-colored frame recalls the retro-futurism of the eighties PC era. The designer notes this crucial change, calling it \u2018a separate object rather than something permanently integrated into the interior [space].\u2019 Yet, the flexible seating allowances of the traditional pit are achieved here through the different seat heights, sloped backs, handlebars, and upholstered floors. It invites not just sitting, but lounging, peering, eavesdropping, and maybe even a little nap.<\/p>\n

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\u2018I don\u2019t think there is any radical difference between these mid-century sofas and contemporary solutions. This typology really does address the relationship between a person and a space, both then and now.\u2019 In designing this secluded space, separate from the hubbub of the event, Shcherbakov captures the energy, or \u2018aura,\u2019 of a conversation pit as a place for communal gathering.<\/p>\n

\"supaform
Transit Encounters consists of plush, velvet green cushions that all revolve around a central space: a low-to-the-ground table with a built-in turntable system<\/p>\n

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The perils and past of the conversation pit<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 1963, TIME<\/a><\/strong> magazine had already declared a \u2018Fall of the Pit,\u2019 citing the many mishaps that resulted from having what was effectively a hole built into the floor of a high-traffic space. Toward the end of the decade, the design feature was falling out of vogue because of safety concerns around it and the permanent nature of its construction. Despite this, there have been few domestic features that are so often referenced and revisited for their potential to bring people together. Even the TIME article speaks of the erudite conversations, the parties, and the rest that arose from the space, saying, \u2018There seemed no end to the pit\u2019s potential.\u2019<\/p>\n

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there are aesthetic departures this seat makes from its mid-century inspiration\u2014it\u2019s above ground instead of recessed, and its rigid cream-colored frame recalls the retro-futurism of the eighties PC era<\/p>\n

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Transit Encounters and the pit\u2019s potential<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Admittedly, Transit Encounters avoids its predecessors\u2019 hazards by bringing the seating above ground. When first installed in the space, Shcherbakov did note that, \u2018at first, visitors were hesitant to enter the sofa and would simply walk around it. Perhaps they felt a little awkward about having to take off their shoes. But as soon as one person decided to step inside, others followed, occupying different spots and experimenting with ways of interacting with the sofa.\u2019<\/p>\n

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What makes the space such an interesting case study for this reinterpretation of the typology was the programming organized around the structure itself. Alcova is a highly anticipated event during Milan Design Week, and this sub-installation became the activation site for a series of talks with Design Hotels and DJ sets with Esthetic Joys. \u2018During the lectures, the sofa would be filled with the speakers, while guests sat around the edges. But during the concerts, something even more interesting happened: anyone could sit right next to the musicians and watch their live performance from just an arm\u2019s length away. It was a truly unique experience.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Supaform\u2019s reinterpretation of the conversation pit \u00a0 Whatever happened to the conversation pit? It\u2019s a question that arises…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[11478,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,114038,19,17,266839],"class_list":["post-656525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-architecture-in-france","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-furniture-design","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-modes-of-habitation"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117158904417188527","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}