Next Door
We are living through a disconnection crisis. Despite being more digitally connected than ever, many of us are lonelier, more isolated, and more overwhelmed than we’ve ever been. Our capitalistic society, productivity culture, and technological advances are keeping us in motion but not in relation with one another. In this constant state of doing, the art of human connection has been lost.
My project, Next Door, is a quiet rebellion against that. It’s a hyperlocal, human-scale initiative built around one simple but powerful belief: we don’t need to wait for top-down change to feel more connected. We can start right here. On our own street. In our own neighborhoods.
Rooted in the belief that relationships are the smallest unit of change, Next Door uses the oldest tools in the book. Shared meals, ritual, and conversation to bring us back to each other and back to ourselves. It’s not aiming to be the next viral app or product. And that’s the point. In a world chasing constant innovation, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is gather and bring people together face-to face.
The project is structured around recurring touch points to help people reconnect with each other and with themselves.
Community co-working days for quiet accountability and causal proximity. Local businesses offer space and discounts some weeks, and others, a neighbor hosts at their apartment.
Dinner parties centered around a theme, an interactive table cloth, and shared food. Intimate spaces where strangers can become friends.
Neighborhood pop-up markets that create a space for celebration, creative exchange, and spontaneous connection with people outside of your typical social circle.
