Furniture for the Suburbs

2026

Furniture for the Suburbs is one work within Robson’s (b,2002, Scotland) current research into public space, urban design, belonging and control. Richard Sennet’s book, The Uses of Disorder: Personal Identity and City Life (1970), was the catalyst for this research; specifically, his writing about how the insular nature of the suburbs affect one’s personal development. However, when looking at how our cities are designed now, Robson starts to question Sennet’s optimistic depiction of the city as many aspects of urban planning decrease the space for the forced interactions that are central to Sennet’s argument. Following this enquiry Robson has been photographing cities and towns in Scotland, exploring how different spaces are designed.

For Furniture for the Suburbs Robson references the photographs she has been taking of hostile architecture around Glasgow and Edinburgh, bringing elements of the urban designs into a domestic space. The furniture is modified by Robson with metal spikes and ramps to resemble pigeon spikes and bus stop benches. Moving these designs into a domestic space, Robson considers how these strategies embedded in our environment push our behaviours, and our perspectives in subtle ways.