BELONG - A Studio Doms Urban Furniture Collection
BELONG is a furniture collection designed to make urban space a little more human.
Design
Studio Doms
Producer
Soma Design
Sector
Urban furniture
Year of design
2025
“A conventional straight bench places people side by side. BELONG breaks the line. Through subtle shifts in angle and direction, new situations emerge where people can see one another and engage in conversation more naturally”
The collection is based on a simple idea: the shape of our shared spaces influences how we use them. By breaking away from the straight line of the traditional bench and introducing subtle angles, BELONG creates new relationships between people, furniture and place.
BELONG can stand as an individual piece, but is also designed as a modular system. Multiple units can form meandering lines, triangular meeting places or circles where people naturally turn towards one another. In this way, the furniture creates spaces within the larger space – for spontaneous encounters, conversations or simply a moment on your own.
Great care has been given to ergonomics and accessibility. Variations in seat height, armrests and support make the collection welcoming to people of different ages, bodies and physical abilities.
BELONG is manufactured entirely in Småland, Sweden, and is supplied with certification for forestry without clear-cutting.
BELONG bench with armrests. Colour is RAL 6011.
BELONG bench with armrests and BELONG table. Colour is RAL 6011.
The designer’s story
BELONG was developed with people and human interaction at its centre.
In my work with furniture for public space, I often return to Jan Gehl’s understanding of the city as a place for human relationships – where people can see, hear and talk to one another. The starting point for BELONG was therefore to create seating that offers more than a place to rest; seating that can also encourage presence, encounters and dialogue.
Another important reference is Ralph Erskine’s idea of Talkscapes – how architecture, furniture and spatial elements can be shaped to encourage conversation and social interaction.
A conventional straight bench places people side by side. BELONG breaks the line. Through subtle shifts in angle and direction, new situations emerge where people can see one another and engage in conversation more naturally.
It is a small geometric shift, but one that can change how a place is used.
New forms create conversation.