Conversation Pits, once a popular feature of interior design, back in vogue

Plus, it’d be deep enough that you’d want to post a life-guard to track kids under the balls for an extended time.

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8ReI

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Sunglasses Hiding GIF by Soul Train

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No matches on TinEye…where is that from?

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At a glance, it looks like a set piece from the newer Blade Runner, but I could be wrong.

Edit: I am.

Per google reverse image search, it’s from Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities, which I haven’t finished yet.

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Nor have I.

Thank you! Funny that Google’s version of TinEye worked better than the OG.

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I never had much luck with TinEye, oddly enough…

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One of my Minneapolis friends mentioned that there are a lot of “sunken living rooms” in the city. She found it odd, and tracked it down to some program back in the, maybe ‘70s? Where you could get rebates for ‘improving your property’ and a couple of the options were either adding insulation or…adding a sunken living room, aka conversation pit, because they added value to a property.
Kind of hilarious in retrospect.
Any others from the twin cities know about this? @zfirphdn?

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bingo! The Viewing from Panos Cosmatos

Can recommend as one of the most “out there” of this bunch from Del Toro et al (which is saying a lot). But was also kinda taken with “inverse Sarlacc pit” vibe of said conversational interior design. Anyhow, it’s a trip to say the least.

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9k=(5)

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:woman_shrugging:t2: Dunno.

Seems like it would be a lot harder to add a conversation pit, than to get rid of (fill in or cover over) one…and a lot harder to add a conversation pit than to blow some insulation into the walls? I hope anyone who added one got a decent rebate for their trouble! But yeah, in retrospect I’m whispering shouting INSULATION! INSULATION! INSULATION! into their ear.

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So, I’m just spitballing here:

Perhaps going down steps to a living room was made desirable by the most famous character from Minneapolis?

image

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That’s really just a split-level room, which I’d argue the conversation pit of the ‘70s evolved into in the 80’s. Our 80’s house had a two-step down into the family room from the kitchen to create an area that was cozy feeling, but still big enough to house the fireplace and be used for watching TV. Made infinitely more sense than conversation pits ever did.

As pointed out by others, the Pit is just building in a fixed furniture layout, which is never a good idea.

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I’ve definitely fallen more than once when stepping into an unexpectedly sunken area like this. Talk about safety hazard.

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… it should either be 1965 or 2065?

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:musical_note: In the year 2525, if our ankles are still alive…

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With added concussions.

Just a sparkling split-level room…?

Optional split-level rant Around here, very popular from the late 1960ies until well into the 1990ies as a lazy way to jazz up dreary, soulless, overpriced terraced developments in the suburbs. Usually the split-level concept is extended to all the floors because it's easier to build that way, too. Looks great when the room is empty or with the furniture arranged _just so_ in the show house (which also always has the _best_ view of _all_ the houses; insert meme). At best a minor nuisance when actually living in a house like that. More often than not a real hindrance over time. Impossible to get rid of without tearing down and rebuilding literally half the house. (Assuming you'd get a building permit for that.) No room for a ramp. Putting in 6 or more stairlifters that defeat two or three steps each? You've got to really love this particular house; that money would be better spent on moving somewhere else.
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