On Isolation, Solitude, and facing loneliness, a photo essayPortra400 | Loners in Hong Kong | taken

On Isolation, Solitude, and facing loneliness, a photo essay

Portra400 | Loners in Hong Kong | taken in 2017 - 2019

Isolation and solitude are very different concepts.  While isolation could be in form of restriction act by authorities as punishment, or by external force which in our case this long standing pandemic, solitude on the other hand is more an inward feeling and could be a choice that one embraces.  Learning how to practice solitude could help us coupe with extreme situations including what we are experiencing, an enforced isolation and loneliness in a very long period of time.

Nowadays people take mediation as an antidote against our materialistic world.  With overexposure of information and thanks to our advancement in technology we realise what promises to connect us is actually doing the opposite, leaving us in with emptiness and loneliness, and that is the way we are heading towards.  

Reading is one my favourite escape that requires being solitude, the ultimate way to practice voyage when travelling becomes hazardous to health.  It is how one could possibly stand out among others when everyone is getting information through internet or social media.  And good thing is, time used to be limited in our modern world but becomes relative abundant when there is a pandemic.

A café with one seaters might against economical norms.  When I was in Shanghai, my good friend took me to one of my favourite café in the world and they serve nothing more than coffee with a regular taste.  The only difference they made was to put a nose level monitoring device on wall that beeped whenever the interior noise level exceed certain Decibels.  They promised their customers a measurable level of silence.  

In architecture, we tend to design to encourage communication among users of the space and in other words making elimination of loneliness as architects’ ultimate goal.  Openness is one of the long lasting trends in office and school design to promote collaboration, idea exchange and team work.  We were taught to believe an open plan with communal tables promotes efficiency and is far better than space of one’s own.  If one wants to make a private call there is always a soundproof phone booths in the corner of an open office.

The grand invention of ‘learning from home’ is one of the biggest challenge to parents in pandemic. Zoom meetings at 8:30am with teachers and pile of emails on homework promote not just bonding but also anxiety. Good thing is, I finally have more understanding on the school curriculum. While critical thinking and collaboration with others becomes essential survival skills in future when most of the jobs are not even been emerged, I begin to wonder the importance of teaching our children about the art of solitude, especially when isolation and loneliness are being promised.

- WWH