Monday, November 4, 2024

Lonely Infrastructure

How might we study, talk about, and address loneliness and the built environment? What kinds of social arrangements might we foster to reconsider loneliness and connection, especially between urban centers and rural villages? Are some populations more vulnerable to loneliness than others?

Recommended Resources

Pile of Post-it notes next to a key for comparison

When the Walls Talked

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By Laya Liebeseller Talking Walls marked the beginning of something new at C21. It was the first of what would become a series of gallery...
Image of filing tan filing cabinets

Lonely No More! in the Archive

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By Eli Frank I began this summer’s Archive Fellowship ruminating on the historical intimacies between C21’s institutional history and my own research project. Both C21...

Palaces for the People

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Author Eric Klinenberg Description In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward from the deep divisions in America today. He believes that the future of...

Vulnerability and the Politics of Care

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Editors Victoria Browne, Jason Danely, and Doerthe Rosenow Description Vulnerability is a fundamental aspect of existence, giving rise to the need for care in various forms. Yet...
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6.5 Minutes With… Jason Danely

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C21 Director Anne Basting has a conversation with anthropologist Jason Danely about the concept of the "lonely death" in Japan.

Slapstick, Or Lonesome No More!

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Author Kurt Vonnegut Description Slapstick presents an apocalyptic vision seen through the eyes of the current King of Manhattan (and last President of the United States), a wickedly irreverent...

People

Jason Danely

Oxford Brookes University

Joan Johnson

Milwaukee Public Library

Eric Klinenberg

New York University

Chikako Ozawa-de Silva

Emory University

Discussion Questions

  • What alternative concepts of housing, transportation and community planning are being designed to enhance social infrastructure and decrease loneliness?
  • What kinds of social and ideological arrangements exasperate feelings of loneliness or foster spaces for connection?
  • How might physical environments make or unmake loneliness?