Written by DesignFever 

What if wellness was a collection of pixel?

If it is true that design is moving into the metaverse, that the architect will also become a set designer and engineers the creators of the virtual… what will happen to spas?

Cyberspace Eden promises infinite spaces and stimuli of all kinds. Above all, it offers a world devoid of physics and the laws of nature. This is where trees float, buildings change shape cyclically, and one can breathe underwater and swim in the Milky Way. For such experiences, there seems to be only one price to pay: renunciation of touch and smell. On the one hand, we dread spas without water, heat, cold, or steam, but yet on the other, a fascinating world of experimentation becomes possible involving vision, hearing, and spirituality, which Alberto Apostoli calls the sixth sense.

 

Colours, lights, and realizing we are part of a larger design or, conversely, that we and our worries are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, all contribute to well-being. So the idea is that there are free zones in the virtual world where one can quiet the mind at will is attractive. This is where one can fly over forests of changing colours during a lunch break; contemplate sunsets from the living room or physically experience music. This does not seem so unrealistic or useless, especially as it can be accessible to everyone regardless of location, mobility or other limitations.

The fact that well-being (or a substitute for it, depending on one’s point of view) is already taking place online, moreover, is evident and manifested by the exponential growth of phenomena such as ASMR, which aims at sensory stimulation readily available directly from the smartphone, on one’s couch. With millions of views per items of content, hundreds of dedicated channels, and an ever-growing market, it can only be concluded that, in part, the market is prepared to see classic structures flanked by those with digital matrixes designed to provide discrete moments of relaxation throughout the busy day.

In this context, what role will architects play? It will be much the same as the role they play now because there will be no less technical skills required. Those who already design SPAs in the way that, for example, Studio Apostoli does, do not limit themselves to floor plans, but rather to developing a concept, to developing a business and management model, to managing, even before the allocated space is assigned, the experience that users will gain and what, at the end of the day, they will take home.

The real question to be answered, which extends beyond design, and which I leave in closing, is: how do we make these collective, shareable experiences a social positivity, and not outposts of isolation instead? There is still some time to contemplate this… In the meantime, see you online.

 

Design Fever

DesignFever deals with “smart communication strategy” for the world of design.
Like design, it is structured on several levels to offer integrated communication services:
international press office and public relations, digital PR, social media management, organization of events and brand identity.