404 - e-flux

The unprecedented rise of urban dwellers living on their own challenges normative ideas about home and raises questions about how this change in social structure and lifestyle affects cities as a whole. While the causes of living alone seem apparent—shifting social values, the flexibilization of labour, new demographics, increased wealth, and chang... See more

This customization made possible by our “always-online society” can also have negative effects: people have become more prone to becoming anxious when either physical or virtually disconnected from others and it puts us all in a state of mutual surveillance. So, on the one hand, there is the feeling of always wanting to be connected to somebody, an... See more

Moreover, with social media, individuals can customize and optimize their information environments, such that they only virtually see the information they want to see and only meet the people they want to meet. To formulate it differently, individuals can easily avoid information and people they do not wish to encounter online. The evolution in com... See more

Karaoke bars have recently been adapted to be spaces that are comprised of numerous solo karaoke booths. This new arrangement can be used in a manner that exemplifies the contemporary condition of living in a city: a group of people may go to a karaoke parlour together, upon arriving, each person goes into their own solo booth, and, after an hour o... See more

A number of notable inventions intended to create solitary spaces originated in Japan and are very much the product of Japanese culture. Take the Sony Walkman, for instance, it is a device that creates an invisible bubble around its user and provides the possibility to exist in a personal solitary space, even as one moves through public spaces and ... See more