Family: Oana Stanescu c/o Arper
© Rob ‘t Hart
Key Takeaways
On communal spaces:
It’s always a tough one, because in every project, when you draw something and say “this is where people are going to hang out and have a great time!,” I always question, “Is that really going to happen?” Sometimes moments of togetherness happen in the least expected places. Those are the most interesting spaces to me from a purely architectural point of view.
On being alone together:
Obviously people are spending a lot of time on their phones, at home, on laptops, immersed in technology. But I do think, ironically maybe, that this does create the desire to be more together. Even if everyone’s on their phone, they’re together. You can see that in the ubiquity of the use of the hotel lobby as a social space, or all these shared work-slash-social spaces. Everyone is looking for places where they can just “hang out.”
I have been thinking a lot about the nature of public spaces and how technology is affecting our collectiveness. While technology can be isolating I do think there is an inherent need to be surrounded by people, to see, feel, watch, hear others. There are some subtle and other not-so-subtle changes in the way we inhabit a city, in the way we go out and spend social time. The interesting thing is that we adopt these tools so quickly, they become second nature overnight and our lives change drastically in an organic and seamless way. You can surely criticize it, yet change is only natural, so I find it rather fascinating to see how we adapt and how values and desires shift accordingly.
On play as prompt:
“You can try this at the office if you want, but my observation is, as silly as it sounds, if you have a tennis ball and you play with it, everyone you talk to is going to want to play with the tennis ball too. They are going to take it, and bounce it, and maybe give it back, maybe not give it back. People are way more interested in playing or willing to play or connect than they seem. Sometimes it’s the smallest of gestures that can loosen people up, get them playing. The ball is just an example, but these social moments are actually the key to create places of togetherness, creating something that manages to get people to pause, if only for a second. And when I say pause, I mean from everyday life, wired energy. I’m doing stuff: I’m running now, and then I’m taking a call, and then I’m eating. You know what you're doing in your normal day, you know where you are going, you know where you are sitting in the restaurant, all those kinds of things. Places of togetherness interrupt that slightly. Something that’s able to take you out of your own head for a second. That can be texture, that can be objects, that can be space.”