We've arrived to the ending of chapter five, 'Human Movement'. Like I did before in previous chapters, I'm going to analyse my blogposts and place them in the Quality of life model of Felce and Perry. The model knows 5 domains of wellbeing; social, physical, emotional, material and development + activity.


The Worlds First Holographic Protest
Last month thousands of people marched past a Spanish parliament building in Madrid to protest for a new law. It wasn't an ordinary protest: none of them were actually there! It was the worlds first holographic protest. This protest can be linked with emotional wellbeing, since the lack of emotional wellbeing (people getting mad because of the new law) is the reason they did this protest in the first place. But the action itself can be linked to development and activity, because it was an innovative action and a technological experiment. The joining of this protest is an activity and can be linked to personal development.  

The Kitchen Of The Future
The kitchen of the future is about an IKEA project called 'A Table for Living'. It's a high-tech table disguised as a normal dinner table. A camera observes what happens on the table and relevant graphics are projected on the surface. It can be linked to different domains of te Felce and Perry model. For starters it's material wellbeing since it is an object you use in your kitchen. Important is that the effect of the table on its users is more about emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing. The table can react on the way you feel and improve your physical wellbeing. 

Charge Your Phone Using a Window
The Current Window is a modern version of stained glass. The glass contains small solar cells which can capture the energy of the sunlight during the day and collect it in a small box attached to the window. It is an example of material wellbeing, since it is about an object you can place in your house.

The Bike Of The Future
The Halfbike is a practical city bike. It's a modern version of a folding bike and you can take it easily with you in trains or busses without needing a lot of space. The Halfbike has a little resemblance of a segway, but mixed with a traditional bike. The Halfbike is definitaly an example of material wellbeing because it's about a product.

The Multifunctional Use of Place
The multifunctional use of places is hard to place in one domain, since it is about different things. I think the most important one is material wellbeing. The multifunctional use of places is about the future of our city and physical places and making the most of the places that already exist. It also can be linked to development & activity. Most of the places that are multifunctional have a connection with some kind of activity. It's about development, not so much personal but the development of our living environment. 

Last month thousands of people marched past a Spanish parliament building in Madrid to protest for a new law. It wasn't an ordinary protest: none of them were actually there! It was the worlds first holographic protest.





Spain will have a new law called 'Ley de Seguridad Ciudadana' starting the first of July. The law forbids people from protesting in front of government building. Fines can be up to 30.000 euro!

The demonstration was a holographic happening. Spanish activist gathered though their computers. The 'NoSomosDelito' movement asked sympathizers to join the demonstration by sending videos of themselves via a webcam. The final projection used more than 2000 different videos and constitute a hour-long demonstration.



This holographic protest was a smart response to the new law. It was a technical stunt that surely caught attention of the media. "Our protest with holograms is ironic," said spokesman Carlos Escano, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. "With the restrictions we're suffering on our freedom of association and peaceful assembly, the last option that will be left to us in the end will be to protest though our holograms."

The demonstration is an interesting development after the Tupac-hologram. Technology created for entertainment purposes is being used for political reasons. It is an interesting way of human movement, regarding technology but as wel literal movement of people. I think this technology has a lot of potential for other purposes. I can imagine seminars being lead by holograms, hologram-professors teaching at 5 Universities at the same time and scientists sharing their discoveries without having to travel. Important speakers would be able to speak at more places at once and it will save a lot of time. Not only will is save time, think about the pollution that comes with all this traveling. It's a sustainable solutions as wel! Using holograms for teaching purposes will change unnecessary traveling forever. Nevertheless, the question is how much it will cost to make this technology accessible for everyone. Time and money.

Ten years in the future, the world will be a very different place. We have to ask ourselves how we will able to live a sustainable life at home. Big companies are already looking into that strange and technological future. Last week IKEA gave its idea on our future home.

Collaborating with IDEO and Swedish and Dutch design students, IKEA gave us a sneak peek in the kitchen of the future. The Concept Kitchen consists of 4 prototypes; A Table for Living, Storing Visually, Disposing Thoughtfully and Mindful Water Use.



The one I consider the most special and innovative is 'A Table for Living'. It's a high-tech table disguised as a normal dinner table. A camera observes what happens on the table and relevant graphics are projected on the surface. Imagine cooking dinner and your table giving you suggestions on which herbs to use based on your ingredients. Or when your kid is having trouble eating, the table can help. Crazy right? This table is more than a table: it's a preparation surface, workbench, children's play area and a place for your family to connect. Watch the video below to get an impression of this prototype.


Although it's a great technological development translated in something we can use at home,
we have to ask ourselves if we want to live in a technological future like this. Of course it has its advantages: it makes cooking a lot easier and you can learn a lot about food in your own kitchen. With all the ingredients precisely measured and recipes with things you already have in your fridge, it will also be a great help against food-waste. Nevertheless it scares me that everything you and your family do will be filmed and saved. And if everything goes automatically and easy, what will this mean for our children? Will it be a advantage or a disadvantage for their learning process? In short: I think IKEA has done great work with this project and it has a lot of growth potential, but I think the world needs a little bit more time to get ready for technological developments like this.

Want more information about this project and the other prototypes? Check IKEAs website on the kitchen of the future.

In the city of the future we have to keep looking for new ways to capture or generate green energy. Solar panels are a great example, but there are ways which are even smarter! Let me introduce you to the Current Window.

The Current Window is a modern version of stained glass. The glass contains small solar cells which can capture the energy of the sunlight during the day and collect it in a small box attached to the window. You can plug your phone or other small devices in the usb portal of the box and charge it with the energy captured. This electricity can be used to power a whole lot of different electrical appliances! It's a very smart solution for capturing solar power without having to use big solar panels. So even if you don't have a lot of space you can use this green power: everybody needs a window!




The great thing about this window is it's not only functional but it looks awesome! The window can be made with different patterns and in different sizes. Imagine a school filled with windows like this, it would look amazing!

I think there is a lot of growth potential with this product. I mean, if you can make a stained-glass window that captures energy, you can also make normal windows who capture energy, right? Image that if in a few years all the windows of new buildings are made with solar cells. It would definitely change a lot and it would be a step in the right direction of the world getting a little but more sustainable.

Bicycles: you can't even imagine Dutch cities without them. I myself love to ride a bike. I use it every day to go to school, work, meet friends and do groceries. It's my number one way of transportation. Wouldn't it be great if all big international cities were crowded with bikes instead of cars?







If you ask me the city of the future needs a bike of the future. Let me introduce you to the Halfbike. The Halfbike is a bike especially designed for transportation within densely populated city streets. It's a modern version of a folding bike and you can take it easily with you in trains or busses without needing a lot of space. The Halfbike has a little resemblance of a segway, but mixed with a traditional bike. Instead of sitting on a saddle, the rider stands on the peddles and leans in the direction he or she wants to go.

It think this bike has a lot of potential especially for big cities. The problem with normal bikes is that you can't take them with you in public transportation. With the Halfbike this problem is solved and you can easily use public transport in combination with your bike! Also the bike is more easy to store in your home and doesn't need a lot of space. The cherry on top is that it simple looks very stylish. Who wouldn't want to have a bike like this?

Watch the video below to see the Halfbike in action. Want your own Halfbike? You can still back the project on Kickstarter!

Welcome to Chapter five: Human Movement! This time we got the assignment to coolhunt for things within the theme 'Sustainable Cities'. How is the city of the future going to look like? I'm going to research things related to the distant future but as wel as the near future. Let's start with the last one with something very close to home.

In the city of the future there will be no doubt that the redesigning of places will become more important. If we want to live more sustainable, why build new things? It's a better start to look at the things we currently have and change them into the things we need or want. The redesigning of places is fantastic, although there might be a more simple step before totally redesigning. Let's call it 'multifunctional use of places'. Why use a place for just one purpose? If the things we use for one purpose, will get more purposes at once, there is no need to redesign places and we can make a change in a more approachable way.



Let's start with a cool example: Solar Cinema. Solar Cinema is Holland's first and only mobile cinema running on solar-power. The solar panels on the roof of the cinema store enough energy during the day in order to project a movie on a big white screen at night. Due to collaborations with different local initiatives Solar Cinema travels across the country during the summer. They pop-up at outdoor theaters, parks, festivals, back gardens and everywhere else you can think of! Solar Cinema is entirely self-sufficient and independent. Never before was watching a movie this sustainable!


Next is something you might have already seen a while ago, but it still amazes me. Designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel designed a new way of being buried. This egg-shaped chest is 100% biodegradable and can be planted as a seed. Cemeteries will look like never before and have a double purpose as a forest.



Last on the list is a very special place I discovered during my trip to Prague. If you've ever visited Prague, you might know it's a city that has a big underground life, literally. A lot of clubs and pubs are build in the old underground bunkers build for World War II. I think that's a pretty good idea for re-using places. There is one place in particular that is a perfect example of the multifunctional use of a place: the Parukarka bunker. From the outside it just looks like a regular bunker. A little graffiti on top, but nothing special. However, if you walk inside you will be surprised. The bunker serves as a club, a gallery, a museum and has a climbing wall inside. It's a place for learning, sports, art and having fun. What can be a better example of multifunctional use?!

Just like the redesigning of places I think the multifunctional use of places will only grow bigger. Like I said before: "If we want to live more sustainable, why build new things? It's a better start to look at the things we currently have and change them into the things we need or want." Redesigning is great, but sometimes expensive. With the multifunctional use of places there is no need to re-build things and we can re-use it without having to change everything. It is a small step before redesigning and I think it would be a big step forward for cities wanting to be more sustainable!

We've arrived to the ending of chapter four, 'food'. Like I did before in chapter two, I'm going to analyse my blogposts and place them in the Quality of life model of Felce and Perry. The model knows 5 domains of wellbeing; social, physical, emotional, material and development + activity.



According to Felce and Perry 'food' can only be placed in the material wellbeing. This chapter I discovered that this is not the case!

Made by Humans
The 'Made by Humans' campagne of fashion brand Armed Angels is an example of emotional wellbeing. In their campagne they draw attention to the invisible workers at the back of the fashion industry. By using a clever ad they confront us with the ridiculous cheap prices in the fashion industry. This has effect on the way you feel buying clothes. Knowing Armed Angels is trying to change something in the fashion industry, makes you buy your jeans with a clear conscience.

Are you sure that's food?
Articles about foods that aren't food show us the truth about the things we eat. This is something that effects our physical wellbeing. All those chemicals and artificial flavors they put in our food can't be healthy for us. If there's no one to show a good example about what (and how) we should eat, we'll never learn. Luckily there are: You wouldn't see any food blog, magazine or recipe using these kind of ingredients, ever. Yay for healthy, fresh and real food.

Trash decides what's on the menu
Pop-up restaurant Instock is a great example that can be placed under 'development + activity'. Eating at Instock is a great way to support sustainability regarding food. It is a solution for food waste and it makes you aware of the problem. It can also be placed under 'social wellbeing', since it is a restaurant where you eat together with friends or family. 

Six months without supermarkets
Supermarkets control a lot of the food we eat. Gerrit Jan Groothedde wrote a book in which he shows us alternatives for food-shopping. This is an example of material wellbeing, because it's about the quality, the reliabitily and the freshness of the food we buy. Buying local and eating fresh is becoming more and more important for our health.

Urban farming for dummies
This one is a tricky one to place in the Felce and Perry model. Or is it the opposite: really easy? Urban farming is about growing your own food, getting your hands dirty and building your own greenhouse! (development + activity/material wellbeing) But it's also about wanting to eat food without chemicals. (physical wellbeing) It brings our neighborhood together (social wellbeing) and most of all it's really fun to do. (emotional wellbeing) Is urban gardening the solution for a perfect wellbeing? According to the Felce and Perry model it is!