Project — 02 / 05
Bloom
A park seating piece for conversation, shaped to create an inward-facing social zone.
- Type
- Design project
- Year
- 2025
- With
- Georg Ferdinand Nilsen
- Brief
- Vestre
Observation
Young people gathering in groups tend to gravitate toward informal structures—stairs, raised platforms, the edges of things—rather than conventional benches. I observed this directly at Youngstorget in Oslo, where people consistently chose the large circular stone platforms over the many straight benches available. Conventional benches line users up, limiting eye contact and making conversation across more than two or three people awkward. The seating that was actually being used afforded the opposite.
Concept
Bloom's circular form creates an inward-facing social zone. The front half allows people to sit angled slightly away from each other, creating a comfortable buffer of perceived distance. Moving further in, the form wraps around you and turns you toward the others inside it. The result is a piece that accommodates both proximity and personal space, making it easier to sit close to strangers, and easier to talk.
Testing
To test the concept, we built a full-scale model and left it in a nearby park and on the school grounds for about a month. It was used more than anticipated, by more people at once, and in more ways than we had designed for. It confirmed the concept was worth developing further.
Production
Bloom is built from repeated identical parts: the curved steel "petals" that form the backrest and legs, and the "bands" that connect them. Using the same component throughout reduces the number of unique operations in fabrication and assembly, and opens up variation in how the units are configured. The modular structure also allows Bloom to be shipped flat-packed or in halves, adapting to different freight and installation contexts.
