SOM Installation: Conversation Bench

September 16, 2019 - September 22, 2019 12:00 am Drawing Room

We’re honored to team up with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) to exhibit the groundbreaking work of their interdisciplinary practice with the Conversation Bench, a public installation that will be woven into our 2nd floor lobby, the Drawing Room, throughout opening week of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

The “Conversation Bench” is a continuous surface that meanders through the room, connecting all in a singular gesture. Utilizing our iconic Drawing Room, we worked with SOM to remove select furniture and replace them with a white-foam sculpted surface that sweeps up and down to provide a similar function as traditional furniture, but in a novel way that uniquely connects people to the space and one another.

This unified seat is created from one surface, one volume, and one movement of a robotic arm – a product of implicit form design, some serendipity, and no waste manufacture. This design is an exploration of a new type of public architecture informed by emerging technology, sustainability and inclusivity, and inspired by modern urban conditions that require reimagining forms of exchange between human activity, technology, and the natural world.

“The Conversation Bench” was created in partnership with Bridgewater Studio and will be on display from September 16-September 22, 2019 — and we invite you to come take a seat.