zU studio's parenthesis installation in times square brings love + peace to the world

as part of NYCxDESIGN and design pavilion 2018, the busiest location in new york city — times square — is transformed into a meditative spot by amsterdam-based architecture firm zU studio. ‘parenthesis’ invites people to experience consciousness and stillness while lying on one of seven installations, which together form a circle in which people can experience a collective meditative state.

all photos by hugo iglesias

in this age of technological revolution, when our lives are becoming increasingly more stressful, the studio’s aim is to invite people to experience stillness, awareness, quietness, and peacefulness in the most crowded and noisy public plaza in the world. ‘we started analyzing the daily body postures of human beings,’ explains zU team. ‘our working and living environments are changing as our necessities evolve, but somehow the furniture hadn’t change that much in terms of functionality. we are willing to explore and discover new body postures. we are conscious of the impact of body positions on people’s physical and mental health.’ 

together with the first prototype, zU team and design pavilion presents a new verb — re-lying — a beneficial action for our respiratory, digestive and circulatory systems. ‘re-lying’ reduces the pressure on the lumbar discs, reduces your heart rate, improves your breathing and basically, reduces our anxiety. 

the circular disposition of the installation stands as a sign of love, peace, and unity between human beings — seven furniture pieces honor seven chakras in the body. the design team wants to implement this concept in airports, museums, schools, office and public spaces across the world.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom