An Exercise in Simplicity—Faraday Café Puts An End to the Social Age

There's something to be said in the simplicity that we grew up in. Confined by the evolutionary limitations our voices and our feet could manage, before the turn of the digital revolution, humans were a far less social creature... at least in theory. But now that we're so connected on the internet, and constantly looking for more ways to log on rather than hang out, there are those who think that the simplicity and personal connections we once thrived on are lost.

Amongst the revolutionaries calling for a bit of social upheaval in the way we form and maintain relationships is social artist Julien Thomas and Hughes Condon Marler Architect (HCMA) Tony Osborn. Last month the duo tackled a project in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia they called "#FaradayCafe" after English scientist Michael Faraday's most glaringly electric invention- the Faraday Cage. The premise, quite simple; Thomas envisioned a social hub where individuals could relax, enjoy one another's company and log out of the digital world we've become so dependent on. So, the group used a bit of complex physics and expertly placed wire mesh to create a café cell that blocked out all digital and cellular connections-hoping that simplicity would lead to personal connections instead.

"For the past four years I've initiated eight different projects using public space and urban elements to reframe conversations around sustainability, how we operate as a city and what we value" Thomas said, in an exclusive interview with partner Chinatown Experiment. "A Faraday cage is made of conductive material and it is a complete enclosure that restricts the passage of electrical field, which means that within the Faraday Café your phone won't be able to get signal and your laptop won't reach the internet."

With two weeks of events, the pop-up café was indeed a successful social experiment in the hub of Vancouver, as hundreds of fans decided to check out of their digital vices and pop into the barista heaven. But more importantly, Thomas' uniquely artistic statement is changing the course of the conversation about social media and digital connectivity.

The first "retail Faraday cage" as Thomas likes to call it, Faraday Café has already begun to stir up conversation about other applications of Faraday's cage in our day-to-day lives, that will negate the surrounding signals that bombard our digital devices. Bringing in a concept of community, all while keeping the ingenuity and spirit of technology alive, Thomas' social commentary will undoubtedly leave its traces on society as more and more innovators follow his lead.

"What we at the office [were] hoping to get out of the space was a greater understanding of what different and new kinds of social connections we can make through architecture" Osborn said. "Our main interest [was] in observing the space and how people use it, and what we could learn from that to affect the work that we do in the future."