How can we reuse a derelict piece of urban infrastructure?

Telephone booths used to connect us with others; we propose a design to connect with ourselves.

Before technology put a phone in everyone’s pockets, telephone booths were a way for people to “plug in” to the city network. They allowed us to contact loved ones, call for services and feel connected to others. It was the smart city device of a previous era.

In contemporary society, telephone booths have become pockets of unused space. They are relics from a bygone era, representing one of the last refuge of public space in a city all too focused on development.

Our design envisions moments of pause within the city. Just as Clark Kent would run into the telephone booth to transform into Superman, we propose to transform the telephone booth into a place for people to switch off from the city; a place for people to recharge not their phones but themselves.