The capsules are designed for one or two people as a semi-private space within the public space.
The capsules are designed for one or two people as a semi-private space in which to remain within the public space, intended for social distancing, confessions, contemplation, and performing music.
The proposed project is slated for installation in the urban space of Austria and of Tel Aviv. The capsules are constructed of modules with a pattern of the mashrabiya, an architectural element of latticework characteristic of Islamic architecture creating a barrier between interior and exterior. The mashrabiya facilitates privacy while primarily allowing those inside to see outside.
The capsule simultaneously serves as a symbol of protection from the pandemic, maintaining distance, preventing mass gatherings, and detachment, as well as responding to the need for a protective space in the open air.
This need drove the creation of capsules built from the model of the mashrabiya whose structure embodies parameters of isolation and transparency while acting as a barrier of separation without concealing the public space. Instead, they are partially assimilated into the cityscape.
The capsules to be placed throughout the city will constitute a space in which to take a break from the intensive pace of life, with its rampant consumerism and waste. The capsules are both a symbol and a type of reminder of the situation of impotence vis à vis the Covid-19 pandemic that forced massive isolation on human beings across the globe.
Sitting inside the capsule is similar to sitting in a Catholic confessional booth or inside a a space protected from the forces of nature.
Technical details:
1. The capsules are to be produced in various shapes and sizes, from 150*150 cm a single/couple to larger capsules (e.g., for a piano or quartet).
2. Walls and roof are made of a teak wood lattice, 4 mm thick. The openings in the mashrabiya are to be cut by a CNC in the shapes of religious symbols from different religions.
3. All parts will be built from rectangular modules 60*120 cm and from triangular modules 120*60*134 cm which generate endless shapes.
4. The modular construction lowers the cost of shipping and assembly; the outcome is ease of mobility of the capsules.
5. Each capsule has a door in mashrabiya form, like the roof.
6. Solar generators may be installed on the roof for nighttime illumination.
7. Seats may be installed as part of the structure.
