What does "surviving" mean in the 21st century ? This question marked the begining of our three-person group project conducted over five days.

​

 

We focused on urbanism and the social stress it involves. Dr. Mazda Adli, stress researcher at Charité hospital, Berlin, studied this phenomenon. As he expressed it, "City living affects the way our brains deal with stress [...] This is not harmful per se, and it doesn't mean that city living damages our brains, but it alters the way we deal with stress, and together with other risk factors, the mixture might become toxic."

​

 

We chose to address this topic using more of a philosophical and prospective approach, instead of creating a tangible or viable product. "L'enfer, c'est les autres" said Jean-Paul Sartre in his play Huis Clos in 1944. We expressed it literally through ilo, our creation, without being devoid of a hint of irony.

​

 

ilo is a transportable cocoon that accompanies the 21st century user and provides them with a soothing interlude. I conducted the research part of this endeavour, synthesizing a substantial amount of different works. I also, though to a lesser extent, took part in the prototype creation. We all elaborated the shape together.