As part of the Creative Ideation & AI Collaboration course at MASE Berlin, I explored a highly relevant insight into the pervasiveness of technology in our lives, and how it is simultaneously freeing up our spaces while encroaching upon them. In response, I developed a concept lamp for IKEA that acts as a barrier, designed to preserve a vital human space, the space for conviviality.
IKEA
The Observation.
Throughout history, major technological breakthroughs have carved out dedicated environments for us to inhabit.
The Problem.
Today, technology is retreating from dedicated physical spaces only to become an omnipresent force, seamlessly woven into the fabric of our lives.
Technologies aim to ease our lives while cut off the positive effort that makes our human experience valuable.
The Purpose.
We must set boundaries and reclaim our own spaces, which belong to us regardless of the technology we possess. One of these spaces is dining.
Eating is a vital act for our existence, one of its true joys. Being able to eat with others and enjoy their company, through the friction of committed communication, is something we cannot give up.
The Idea.
We introduce Lucia, an innovative dining lamp designed by Ikea to restore boundaries. Lucia strips away digital distractions to revive the authentic friction of human connection.
It features a dual lighting system that shifts the atmosphere with a warm glow only when participants place their smartphones inside a charging hub on the table.
The intention is not to "punish" diners by confiscating their devices, which would quickly become frustrating, but rather to offer a practical benefit by recharging them.
However, the system is highly interactive: whenever a phone is removed from the hub, the warm light immediately dims, providing a subtle but instant visual cue to the rest of the table
It’s a design designed to anchor us in the present, reminding us that true quality requires our full attention.
