Public Installation

Concrete

L 1.5m x W 0.9m x H 1.05m

London, UK

2025

Bare Things

“How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here forever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself.”                                                                                                   - Virginia Woolf, The Waves

“Bare Things” is a seat installation by Pei-Chi Lee & Asia Zwierzchowska, inviting passersby to reflect, play, and pause in Fitzrovia, central London.

Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s evocative words in The Waves, this bench is designed as a space for reflection and connection, honouring her introspection and her time in Fitzrovia, London - a neighbourhood she once called home, where her creative spirit flourished.

The bench embodies duality, offering intimate spaces for personal reflection while remaining open to playful interaction. Users are invited to sit, lean, or climb, capturing a balance between stillness and movement.

The process of making the Bare Things bench was hands-on and material-led.
The bench was designed for easy assembly using three prefabricated components: the footings, the seat, and the backrests.



The footings are clad in concrete tiles, each cast with different patterns and shapes. The seat is made from a concrete cast filled with marble offcuts, along with bespoke marble forks and knives. The backrests - shaped like a seabird and a cup - use textured cement with subtle colour highlights throughout.

The tiles on the footings were created through two community workshops with Fitzrovia Community Centre, using the same quote as a shared theme. Each tile carries a trace of collective hands and conversations, layered responses to belonging, care, and the acts of place-making.

“Bare Things” is part of the “Fitz and Sits”, and is one of nine benches across Fitzrovia and it’s opened to public for three months from June till end of August 2025.

“Fitz and Sits” is a London Festival of Architecture programme and is organised by Fitzrovia Partnership, and kindly sponsored by Seddons GSC.