On Solitude

Human activity is increasingly dictated by metrics: steps per day, hours per week, earnings per year. It becomes impossible to exist in public without a clear direction, without a motive or task to accomplish. The modern office epitomizes our obsession with productive environments. We equate removing the walls of our workspaces with greater collaboration, and thus greater output. But something is lost in the ubiquitous open plan. In our reality of constant connection, we have lost the freedom to be truly alone. Can we rediscover the very human need for solitude in our everyday lives?

My thesis explores this question with the Solitude Preservation Project [SPP]. It is a public service for employees, transients, and commuters in the San Francisco region. The SPP delivers 4 stories of space dedicated to nothing, giving city goers the opportunity to become unproductive members of society when they enter. Each level offers a different degree of solitude, creating a gradation in sensory experience for all visitors.