Isolation chairs?

I was perturbed when I spotted this public seating set-up. To me, it seemed almost like an artwork illustrating isolation. Every chair is just that bit too far from the one next to allow easy conversation or any sense of togetherness. It isn’t art, though – this constellation of outdoor chairs provide rest for tired feet outside the train station in Uppsala, Sweden. But why are they like this?

I’m Swedish and I know we can be reserved folk, but do we really need the enforced distance? Uppsala is, after all, famous for its university. Groups of students are everywhere. 

I sat down on the more bench-like seats behind the chairs and decided to try a different perspective. Maybe there was a method behind it all: Had some researcher concluded that people were more likely sit down if they didn’t have to share a bench? With single chairs, spaced far enough apart, perhaps more humans would use them? 

Each chair has arm rests – would older people find it easier to get up after sitting down for a moment than they do on a bench? Someone with a rollator stopped and took a seat, almost on cue. 

Were they put up in the pandemic, for social distancing? But then, Swedes were never keen on too much protection during that time, and even less outdoors. Are the chairs for die-hard introverts? They seem to revolve. I guess that could be fun, or possibly disconcerting.

What do you reckon it’s all about? Does the world need more or less single-chairs-in-the-(occasional) sun?