IMAGINE this: chika sessions with friends, Netflix-and-chill sessions with your partner, or dinner with your family, all done from the comfort of four walls filled with soft couches and pillows, located right in the middle of your living room. If this concept sounds exciting, then allow me to introduce the conversation pit.  

What is a conversation pit?

A conversation pit is a deep hole in the middle of the living room, which is then filled wall-to-wall with plush sofas. This would then be filled with pillows and blankets, and the floor would be laid down with a carpet in bright colors such as ruby red, royal purple, or even just a simple, warm, brown. 

In the middle, people would put anything that added to the comfort of the pit: a table for wine glasses and coffee mugs, or a footstool for one to kick their feet up on. 

People would be able to get into the pit by either going down a small number of stairs or by simply jumping right down into it–with caution, of course.

However, as humanity modernized itself, the conversation pit has sadly turned into yet another fad that has come and gone. But as the pandemic’s restrictions continue to loosen and we find ourselves spending more and more time with our loved ones, one can’t help but ask if it’s time to bring them back.

Most notably known for its rise to popularity during the 1950s until the 1970s, the origin of the conversation pit is often said to date back to 1952, during which time architect Eero Saarinen and interior designer Alexander Girard made this vision possible in a home located in Columbus, Indiana. 

The point of the pit

According to design historian Alessandra Wood, the main goal of the conversation pit was to be a space for people to talk to one another–to add another dimension to conversation with guests, friends, lovers, family, and anyone else in between. 

Aside from this, others used the conversation pit as a place of sleep or rest, some use it for barbecue parties.

“Historically, the conversation pit was about connecting with people, having personal conversations, and creating a more intimate environment to get to know someone or spend time together,” Alessandra said.

She states that younger generations have grown to find the concept rather alluring because they love the idea of this intimate, safe space found right in the middle of one’s own home.

Why we got rid of them

There are several reasons why conversation pits were slowly phased out. There was, for example, the issue of safety; without any railing present, people realized that it wasn’t the best thing to put in a home with pets or kids. At any given moment, you could just slip and land right in the pit.

There was also a certain amount of awkwardness associated with it, according to Time Magazine. It made it harder for drunk adults to go in and out of it, and women wearing skirts also had difficulty figuring out how to hang out there without giving everyone a full peep show.

Perhaps the main reason was modernity. 

As televisions and phones grew flatter, the living room set-up started to change; instead of couches facing toward one another, the typical couch set-up was slowly reduced to one big one facing a television screen. 

Time for a comeback?

Recently, the pit, it seems, is rising from the dead. over the pandemic. This time, they’ve been made over to look modern and minimalistic. 

Who knows? Maybe in the Philippines, we’ll start seeing these in our homes sometime soon.

It would be a nice way to spice things up, given that more and more ancestral homes in the country are being turned into sleek, white, townhouses that all look the same. 

“Perhaps this is why conversation pits are always on our minds, even outside of the States–they remind us of what a home can be,” Nathan Ma wrote. “Somewhere to meet, not just live.”