Modern Living: Womb with a View

It is entirely possible that the first words of the first psychiatrist were “Return to the womb.” That classic concept a search for primal security—is precisely what French Designer Claude Vidili had in mind when he came up with the idea for his “Isolation Sphere,” a tough and thick polyester shell almost six feet in diameter that is soundproof and guarantees privacy even in the midst of chaos. To retreat from the world, it is necessary only to step inside and close the door.

The basic sphere, which rests on a pedestal for security, takes up about the amount of space used by a large conventional desk and chair. Inside are molded seats big enough for three adults, a flat floor, a swiveling shelf that becomes either a desk or a table, two electric outlets, jacks for phone and television, and an upholstered lining that muffles sound. Spheres are produced with shiny white exteriors, but can be ordered in other colors to match room decors. Cost: $1,600 for an indoor model, $1,900 for one that can withstand rain and snow.

A Vidili sphere has been set up in the midst of a bustling Paris boutique called Plastishop, and serves as its office. Manager Myriam Elig finds it ideal

quiet and comfortable, with plenty

of room to spread her work papers around. A great advantage: at night it is unnecessary to lock papers into filing cabinets for safety. Instead, she simply locks the sphere. Several large furniture firms that have installed spheres in their retail outlets find them ideal for credit offices; they enable a client who is arranging for a credit purchase to reveal his salary, alimony and allotments to his mistress out of earshot of other customers.

Spheres can also be used as quiet zones on construction sites, as workrooms in noisy open offices, for private sales pitches in crowded exhibition halls, or even as studies in small apartments. In a new film, La Grande Maffia, a periscope-equipped sphere becomes an observation point from which a floor supervisor oversees office workers. That seems to leave just one untested use for the uniquely French sphere—as a trysting spot.