> ReciproCITY

> Venezuela

>FINALIST

Team Members:

​
Arlenys Karina Pino Madera,

Daniela Veronica,

Codecido Castillo,

Maricela Del Valle Navarrete Requena

Humans rely on each other for survival; social interactions have become a necessity for society to survive. The causes of loneliness are many and each person lives and experiences them differently. Even though loneliness has a personal component, external factors could contribute to isolation.

As architects, we believe that cities are the natural habitat for society, becoming a platform that enables or restricts social interactions. High crime rates, poor quality public transportation or lack of public spaces could make a person less willing to go out and interact.

Technology plays an important role in the goal to connect people. However, today’s highly competitive world leave us less time to invest in our emotional and personal well-being, resulting on the use of technology to connect on a superficial way, becoming a platform for meaningless interactions.

Considering the problem under these terms, our proposal relies on two aspects: using technology as a tool to promote social interaction in the city, and turning the need for interaction into interest by motivating people with a benefit.

Through a system that integrates different scales of public spaces and a technological platform, we propose an App that suggests spaces and social activities based on the user’s interest and state of mind, each activity will generate “points” that can be exchanged for benefits. The current and future space would adapt to this technology so there’s always integration between virtual and physical space.

ReciproCITY aims to create a system where virtual and physical spaces work together to change the city’s dynamics. Relying on data collected through the App, politicians, urban planners, service providers and any other player on the city’s dynamics could change and adapt to the users’ social, economic and emotional needs, therefore changing the role cities and technology play on our emotional wellness.