When your life revolves around living in the middle of a large city, it can be hard to find time or space to pretend you’re somewhere that isn’t surrounded by concrete and pigeons. I’m not sure how effective Alice Bleton’s “Monade capsule” — a hanging, fibreglass refuge for the apartment-bound — is at helping one escape, but it’s got to be better than, uh, sitting at a desk all day.
As you can probably deduce from the photos, the capsule is designed to rest on a convenient edge, such as the side of a building and provide a sense of soul-crushing vertigo freedom from the confines of urban life.
Here’s how Bleton sees it working:
This transparent capsule on a roof high above the city offers a temporary escape to the urban hub, while also allowing us to reconnect with our environment. The capsule nestles in the density of the city, but escapes it due to its high position. The shape embraces the buildings since it lies partly on the roof and the facade. Like a mountain retreat, it offers a quiet space to breathe with a new viewpoint.
I’m sure it’s crafted in such away that the odds of just rolling out to your death are minimal, but I’m not sure I could reach a complete state of zen with this particular thought in my head.
It sounds sturdy enough, with Bleton recruiting the help of a swimming pool company to put together the 21-piece, fibreglass enclosure.
At the very least, it’s a neat idea and the design takes into consideration both aesthetics and mass production. Still, I think I could make do with a regular old balcony.
[Alice Bleton, via Dezeen]