Gather ‘round for the return of the round dining tables
Gatherings are extra special as we work in hybrid times. Moving away from hierarchies, dining layouts and the way we meet and eat are also changing.
@freedomtreehome
August 2025
Schedules, squares and screens
WModern life drives us into efficient compartments. Timetables are for meetings and events; even a casual evening with friends. Desktops, phones and screens let us roam the world, but isolate us from intimate interactions.
We work in hybrid mode today: more casual offices that create welcoming atmospheres making the workplace comfortable. In turn, homes are becoming creative workspaces. Traditional hierarchies around the head of the table have dissolved in many respects with a shift in societal interactions.
As designers, we are constantly moving in step with these changes. We want to foster connections amongst people, always encouraging meaningful moments shared together around the table.
The Dot and the Circle
WCircular seating also harks back to ancient traditions of tribal gatherings, ritual movements, where ‘round tables’ have been present in many indigenous communities and formal religions.
Indigenous people come together in a circle to represent the idea of collaborating as equals. Dance and ritual movement is often circular. In Hinduism and Islam, the circle has represented the point of origin of all spiritually.
In its expanded form, the circle carries the entire universe as the cosmos within its shape. It is an expansive form and an important element in geometric patterns, reinforcing perfection and connection to divinity.
Always someone beside you
WThe round table is finding more favour at home allowing us to tap into the ancient symbolism of equality and shared connections. Perhaps a longing for intimacy and conversation prompts us to gather around a less formal, more intimate space?
Circular tables encourage egalitarian workflows, a sharing of ideas in a free thinking manner. They are a nest for collaboration and inclusivity. At home it is an ideal shape for family gatherings, for passing and sharing food, and creating bonhomie when familes get together.
Functionally, the round table marks a smaller footplate in the home floor plan, taking up less space, while seating more people. Tables with central legs allow for a free placement of chairs, and even more additions to the seating!
Contoured tables - round or oval - bring a much needed softness to interior design in this age of tech-driven surfaces and interfaces. These organic forms are a counterpoint to the devices, cell blocks, and grid locks we stare at in our everyday lives.
All circles need not be round
WA circular form infuses a place with timeless memories. The parikrama around a temple, the courtyards of palaces, pillars and colonades...
The two new round tables from Freedom Tree are circular in form. Kovil is a circular slab with fringe like notches on its edge. A rounded pillar form leg is In harmony with the thick top. Pali is a handsome, slightly asymmetric octagonal. The table’s central leg matches its unique geometric form.
All circles need not be round. All gatherings need not wait for the perfect table. Join low tables, even coffee tables and sides, plump up some cushions, and make an impromptu space for conversation and cusine.
Freewheeling questions to ponder
WRound tables are back in design in a big way. Will a round table make a shift in the way you work or eat around a table? Will the family interactions change?
Take time to reflect how the gathering spaces of in your home influence how people connect. Do the spaces embody the values of your culture and the way your family interacts?
Does the round table, or other seating arrangments in gathering areas help in fostering face-to-face connections and conversations? Would you want to redesign your space to encourage more intimacy?
