Aria

Aria is a foldable space for people who want to face their fear of heights.

 

To make the design my own, I start from my own experiences: a fear of heights. It was a challenge to try and overcome my own fear. Working with psychologists made my design practical. In psychology they talk about gradual exposure: step by step getting closer to the fear. I designed multiple layers of windows that can be opened and zip off the sides. The patient needs to take the layers off to fully experience and overcome the fear. The next step would be to set the space higher and higher between the trees.

The hardest part about project Aria was the engineering part: it had to be able to hold at least two people without the subsurface sagging too much and certainly so that no one would fall through. Many experiences and tests were a big part of the process. Eventually I invented a clamping system that emerged from it. Synthetic felt can be an enormously strong material and especially when the forces are evenly distributed. The rest of Aria is mostly made out of roller blinds waste that is sewn together like a wall.