Transformer AC

A pair of provocative outside furniture with the purpose of encouraging social connections between strangers.

The pair of Transformer furniture are meant to be provoking in the way the users decide to interact with them and how their decisions might affect others. By wondering how to use the different seating options, I’m hoping for the users to communicate with each other.

Due to increasing technological advances in our daily lives, people’s social connections and skills are decreasing. In public spaces, there is an opportunity to increase social interaction between strangers during their everyday routine with design.

In the Nordic culture, people follow unwritten social rules by avoiding intruding on a stranger’s personal space uninvited by sitting opposite or next to them. By choosing between different usage of the furniture, it forces the users to stop and think about where it is considered polite to sit. This makes the usage of the Transformer furniture as a possible icebreaker for strangers to socialize.
The provocative functions also come to an advantage now in the time of COVID-19 for people to be able to keep a safe distance.

The first of the pair is a modular bench with the option to lift up the backrest to use it as a table. Two can be positioned together to form a ‘picnic’ table.

The latter is a transit shelter with sliding seats, making it possible for users to choose how close they sit next to others.