For one month, whenever I rode on an elevator, I made myself verbally engage with other riders – strangers.
Landscape architects often design spaces for planned activities, like a concert. But what about spontaneous activity between strangers? Many environments exist where people are close by, but don’t interact. However, what can happen if strangers begin to interact with each other more often?
Sometimes, it felt awkward to disrupt the empty silence. However, the warm and interesting conversations outnumbered the colder ones. As designers, we need to foster social opportunities in environments that offer further collaboration and exchange between people and activities.