To gather together
Type of work: Social commentary through experiential design
Duration: 3 months
Designers: Nicole Prasetia, Nurul Asyiqin Bte Mohd Ariffin, Putri Nur Dalina Bte Rohmat
Project Overview:
To gather, together is my Final year project exploring Loneliness in the city. It is the result of a collaborative project where we aim to understand the multifaceted issue of loneliness in the city and explore avenues for design intervention. It's strange that in the middle of a bustling urban area, surrounded by people, you can still feel completely alone.
In this city that sees modernization as equivalent to technological progress, everyday human-to-human interactions are disappearing replaced by machines. From this, we developed a design concept called "The Vending Machine Campaign: To-gather Together." This idea first utilizes vending machines, tools of convenience and efficiency, into tools that bring people together, encouraging others to design machines that bring people together. Second, it takes advantage of rain which prompts people to seek shelter and gather in one place. We leverage these moments of gathering to place our umbrella vending machines that require's two people to pull the handles to dispense. Lastly, the umbrella itself is designed for sharing, an object that makes space for two instead of one.
Research Booklet: Getting to know Loneliness
Research Recap
First off, we explored how hyperconectivity in cities can exacerbate loneliness. We then dug into how interactions in both real and online environments can effect connections. Secondly, to get a better understanding and empathize with the condition of loneliens, we devised immersive experiences to find out the limits of connection, like spending 24 hours in isolation, tying two people together, and extended periods of deprivation.
Next, we analyzed urban environments and realized that everyday interactions are often ignored by cities focused on technological progress, are slowly disappearing, replaced by machines. From this, we developed a design concept called "The Vending Machine Campaign: To-gather Together." This idea turns vending machines, tools of convenience and efficiency, into tools that bring people together, encouraging simple interactions.
Analysis
There is a displacement of physical human-to-human interactions in modern city living exacerbated by the design of systems and objects which prioritizes the mindset of a fast paced city. This leads to a decreasing amount of daily mundane interactions which decreases the co-dependent bonds humans have with each other.
DESIGN SOLUTION
