Spoiler
A conversation pit is an architectural feature that incorporates built-in seating into a depressed section of flooring within a larger room.
[...]
The conversation pit was popular from the 1950s to the 1970s, seen across Europe as well as North America. Modernist architects Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard used a conversation pit as the centerpiece of the influential Miller House (1958) in Columbus, Indiana, one of the earliest widely publicized applications of the concept. A red conversation pit (since covered, but recently restored) was later incorporated by Saarinen into the 1962 TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
My initial reaction as well; there’s no way these aren’t some of the raunchiest places on earth
those cocaine blowjobs would have paid for themselves
So I assume the goal is to run in and jump over and land on the sofa on the other side of the pit, and the way you land the more comfy and poised for conversation you are the better the conversation will be? I drew it out to illustrate my meaning https://i.postimg.cc/NfBvfmwz/run-and-jump.webp
That's probably a 10/10 landing I drew
That's a textbook 7.5/10. No doubt it's a solid landing, but a lounge lay is hardly the most technical landing you'll see in a modern pit jumping competition. Elite jumpers can land with one foot on the central table, the other leg crossed, a pillow providing lumbar support, and all without spilling their bourbon.
These fell out of favor cause drunk people fall in so they became insurance liabilities
I have to imagine it also lost favor as living rooms began to be centered around the TV
It's that thing everyone fills in when they buy a house from the 1970's.
They're cool but it'd be pretty neat to have a handicap acessable one
Guess I should clarify: how would you go about making a more accessable conversation pit?
It's part in inside someone's house, not public. It wouldn't be too hard to toss a ramp in there if need be. Most people's homes aren't handicap accessible unless they need it to be.
I meant on the outside of the pit. Fill the centre with foam and do a sick jump.
maybe some kind of spiral that continues into a ramp?
An ADA-compliant ramp is technically possible for a
fuckconversation-pit of this size, but probably not very useful in practice. For every inch of height you need to ascend or descend, you need a foot of ramp length. A normal couch's backrest usually is about 28 to 32 inches high, so you'd need a ramp about 30 feet long. Looking up some cheap Ikea sectional couches, their maximum length per side in this configuration is about 11 feet. So the ramp would need to wrap around three sides of thefuckconversation-pit—while allowing extra corner tolerances to turn your wheelchair—and also omit one of the four corner sectional pieces to allow you to climb into thefuckconversation pile.Anyway, this is just a long form way of saying: fill the middle of the pit with pillows, and stage dive into the
cuddle puddleconversation basin.I figured ada compliant is outside the realm of possibility, but is there anything you could do to make it more accessable to those just with imparments? Stairs would be the obvious addon but I'm trying to think bigger
I think a chair lift on one side of the pit, like they retrofit stairs with, could work.
Sorry, I don't know. I'm not a usability expert, nor do I have much experience with serious physical impairments. I was just solving a very simple social math problem. :bawllin-sad:
for the biggest budget possible for wheelchair accessibility i'm thinking like a wheelchair-sized square is missing from one of the couches, and in that square is a wheelchair-sized elevator platform you can roll your chair onto, then lower the mini-elevator into the pit to be at the same height as the rest of the couches, and then when you need to leave activate the lift back up again and roll backwards out of the pit-levator
with like mini-rails on the front three sides of the lift so you can't accidentally roll into the pit
Instead of stairs, make it a (longer) ramp. Also make the seats removable so you can fit a wheelchair in there.
I'd expect you'd replace one side with a parallel ramp and space for one or two wheelchair.
I was a boy in the 70s. I wish I had been older. I would have died to do that if I got the chance.
Needs a guardrail, at the very least, it's no fun to stumble into a pit on the way to piss at 3 in the morning. OSHA's gonna have a field day with this one.
these are cool but split-levels aren't
constantly tripping trying to carry anything across the house
Man, this is just like Super Tuesday at Will Menaker's house! :gex:
The ideal home has a Conversation Pit AND a Grooving Area, 4" deep shag carpet, and a waterbed and disco ball in every room
Every room? Are waterbeds especially good for fucking? Cause otherwise I'm thinking there might be a better use of space
Everything is a conversation pit if you're introverted enough
