Nothing gets people talking like an out of place, seemingly random object. At least, that is what designer Julie Kim seems to have proved by putting one of her coffee tables at an L.A. bus stop on a busy corner in the area of the city called Koreatown. Kim says that with California’s more popular tourist attractions like Disneyland and the Hollywood Sign, areas of the cities where residents spend their time (like public transit) are neglected and forgotten. In an article in Good, Kim says:
“It bothers me when outsiders have a perception that Angelenos are all blond surfers that hang out at the beach and drive everywhere.”
That is why Kim decided to embark on a project to show the less-seen side of L.A. Kim put her coffee table, set with a newspaper and a vase of flowers, on a corner and then shot video from far enough away so that people didn’t know they were being filmed. She found that people were drawn to the table, and it even sparked conversations among strangers.
Kim believes that public transportation stops are an un-utilized space for people to really interact, and that the city could do more to improve the areas.
“People wait for a while at these stops, 15 to 20 minutes. This is an opportunity for the city to engage them. Many neighborhoods in L.A. still lack built features that stimulate the senses and elicit interest at pedestrian scale. Perhaps the coffee table filled that role momentarily.”
(via Good, video via Vimeo Danny Kim)
