Remember the Mosaic walls created by Mans Kaapbarg in the Netherlands?The great mosaic artwork I´ve seen in Almelo,Netherlands within a road tunnel which was actally turned into a caprivating work of art with lots of mosaic is made from different materials such as glass and other recyclable materials. I was actually surprised that these social sofas have Dutch roots, only that the mosaic and finishing design is done here in Germany and also from other parts of the world.

This time, my attention was caught by these sofas, a very trendy benches. Over here in Ingolstadt, we have plenty of benches in the park, at the banks of the Danube, or more like recliners made out of woord and steel. But these social sofas are simply different–simply more inviting, and comfortable.

A sofa is a functional furniture.A chair or a bench is an unwritten invitation of ” Please have a seat..!” It´s a place where we opt to make a stop, relax and just have a conversation. I myself loved sitting in a bench in a park or in a wooden recliner in the mountais. It´s a landmark in every city especially in parks and playgrounds.Over here in Bavaria, we called them “ Social Sofas”. Not only they were cozy but they were really functionally beautiful and the mosaic artwork is impeccable.Nothing but the best and done by the artist Caroline Jung who had a great mind and her mosaic works are worthy to drool.

But these sofas are not just an ordinary seaters.The design and purpose has a great message to the public and to the world. It´s main function was to avoid social distancing, to create a harmonious bonding in the neighbourhood. A place of connection in a great sense.

This one above is just a few meters where I lived and I was actually happy to see it. My daughter can´t get enough posing and sitting on this sofa, bewildered by the mosaic art!This design remind me so much of the Corona Pandemic, it´s the time where schools were closed and children went into Homeschool and yes, stayed at home. The time where we all wore masks and get vaccinated.

When I was in Kuwait, I visited the Mirror House where the hostess and owner Lidia showed us her masterpiece. It was a house that was attacked with termites and Lidia had a wonderful idea to do a mosaic design all over her house—from floors to ceilings, to walls and rooms. Everything is just crafted with broekn pieces of glass! Now her house became a national landmark of Kuwait and her artistic soul is one of the best thing I have ever met.She put her whole soul in every piece of glass just like Caroline Jung crafted all these wonderful sofas scattered here in Bavaria.

Now this gets even more interesting because in the Netherlands, there are lots of Social Sofas scattered in different places as well.The artist Caroline Jung travelled to Holland to meet with the owner and producer of Socal Sofas in Oisterwijk, Karin Bruers of Social Sofa.She have sold more than 2,000 sofas all over the world!

” People who know their neighbours feels safer, happier, and feel less lonely.” -Karin Bruers

She believes that every neighbourhood deserves a sofa–a stylish bench that gather people together.While browsing the social stories, I was really amazed how many social sofas scattered in the world. There are cool designs in main cities of Den Haag, Maastricht,Amsterdam, and Gouda. Not only in the Netherlands , but there were also cool Social Sofas in China, Argentina, Belfast,Switzerland, Japan and South Africa and many more international locations.

One cool Social Sofa example is located in New Amsterdam, Veenoord, near the House of Van Gogh.The volunteers glued the mosaic by hand and created a wonderful artwork!

Would you love to sit on a Coming Out Social Sofa?

More Social Sofas and amazing stories of neighbourhood bondings can be found here.

Have you seen a Social Sofa in your local city? Please tell me if so!

Anyway, I am glad that I lived in a neighbourhood where Benches and Social Sofas existed.

Inspired by the Pull Up a Seat Challenge

Until then, Tschüss.