Our project stems from an interest in the changing landscape of social connectivity, especially as individuals living in London. While our ‘digitally connected’ society is partly built on the premise of finding community, in a post-pandemic world, this rarely comes into fruition, with 700,000 Londoners now feeling lonely ‘most of’ or ‘all of the time’ due to lack of social connection. To challenge this, our project looks specifically at how to amplify and strengthen connectedness in moments of fleeing community, like sitting on a park bench with a stranger, buying a coffee, or having a smoking break. We place importance on the need of these ‘third spaces’ for fostering conversations and solidarity between individuals.
Our concept of ‘bridging the gap’ between individuals was further explored through our research into ‘peripersonal space’: the immediate area surrounding an individual which extends to the reach of their arms. This psychological concept reveals that our sense of personal space is not fixed but can expand or contract based on our interactions and feelings of safety with others. It suggests that in safe and trusting contexts, individuals are more open to reducing the physical distance between themselves and others, facilitating a sense of unity and connection.
Combining our knowledge of ‘third spaces’ and ‘peripersonal space’, our final project outcome is a hand-made wearable architecture piece that uses playfulness and functionality to break down social barriers in daily social interactions. This multi-person garment reinforces the idea that communal activities and shared experiences are pivotal in building relationships. We use wearable architecture as a medium through which individuals can physically experience the extension of their peripersonal space into the extrapersonal, creating a tangible web of connections among wearers. This approach leverages the innate human sensitivity to personal space and uses it as a vehicle for enhancing social interactions, ultimately aiming to create a sense of wholeness, commonality, and harmonisation.
Ultimately, our wearable architecture garment combats the current landscape of social isolation by encouraging individuals to consider the spaces of others, fostering a shared experience that can lead to a sense of community and belonging.
