The World Needs More Booths
Remember face-to-face conversation? You know, sharing thoughts, talking through concerns, sketching out ideas, and having intelligent discussions without the overblown internet persona outrage? You have instant feedback through facial expressions, tone of voice, and spoken word. You have instant ability to clarify a particular point, on the spot. You get a better “read” of where the other person is coming from. And, you get better engagement in the conversation. - Rick Knowles
Conference rooms, court rooms, hospital rooms, elevators - these are some examples where the space presupposes a particular way of behaving and communicating (or, in the case of elevators, not communicating.) The informal setting of a booth, however, allows for a comfortable space to let some of the usual barriers to conversation fall away.
Many of the most memorable conversations and exchanges of ideas in my life happened in restaurant booths. They weren't all good, but most of them were and all of them were important. Add in a good cup of coffee and they can be incredibly creative spaces. Perhaps it's just a lucky spacial anchor thing. However it happened, the result is that booths, particularly coffee shop booths, are my go-to spaces for near-instant solace and creativity. So much so that when we kicked off a major home renovation some years ago it included, among many other things, a breakfast booth off the kitchen. The design of the booth was completed by the same designer/builder of the booths at Racine's Restaurant - perhaps my second all-time favorite Third Place behind The Market. (Sadly, neither Racine's or The Market survived the government lockdowns of 2020.)
(Image credit: johnny_automatic)