Uno extra space to socialize and host friendly conversations. Conversation pits are regaining their space in homes. And it’s not just because of the great interest in vintage interior design of recent times. It is felt in the air a newfound desire for conviviality. Conversation pits are conversation basins (if we want to translate literally): that is, circular spaces created inside the living room where you can sit and chat. Their return is already a trend on social networks, Twitter and TikTok in particular but also on Instagram.
Salotti, the return of the Conversation pit from the Sixties
It was 1957 when the duo of architects Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard inserted a particular living room, a lowered lounge if that can be defined. A concept born from a need of the owners: they did not want furniture in front of the large window to be able to enjoy the landscape. The project was that of the Miller House and Gardena modern house in Columbus, Indiana, which entered the books of architecture precisely for the innovative choices made.
The Miller House Conversation Pit (credit: columbus.in.us)
Between these, the first Conversation pit: a circular space is therefore created inside the living room, a real basin used as a place for conversation, between sofas and tables. In short, a living room in the living room. The idea spread throughout the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s and solves two practical needs: on the one hand it hides the furniture, on the other it simplifies the design and furnishings.
In fact, inside the Conversation pits there is space for a sofa, circular or square depending on the shape of the basin, and the coffee table: therefore the message passed that modern houses were more attractive precisely because they were more minimal.
A vintage return that underlines the need for sociality
Has the lowered living room had its day? One would not say: i Conversation pits are back: first on social networks, Twitter and TikTok in the first place, then also in reality. And the main reasons are two.
First of all, we have a lot of nostalgia for the past. A nostalgia grown in the zero years of the new millennium (who paid little attention to interior design) and exploded during the pandemic: a period that saw many take refuge at home and even in the country houses (it is the phenomenon of cottagecore), returning, even if only mentally, to a lifestyle simpler and more genuine.
The other reason is the need to socialize at home. Not surprisingly, if in existing apartments it is difficult to build one, in new ones they are a very present detail. To underline the desire to break down social distances.
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