Jiakun Liu
China

To Touch the Sky - Aerophobia Healing Hub

The project focuses on a future when the transport system will be transformed over the next fifty years. The increasing use of eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle) will make urban transport more convenient and faster, but new flying machines, like other new technology, bring with them a number of anxieties: the fear of flying, also known as Aerophobia, will become a more common psychological problem among the population. 

People may have been born with a fear of heights, or may have had accidents and exceptional circumstances whilst flying, or they may have a distrust and negative image of technology. These conditions make this group of people face long-term psychological problems and inconveniences in their lives.

In response to the growing number of flight anxieties, Future Flight Company and the NHS have set up a counselling and treatment centre in a future Vertiport at the Chisenhale Works for the treatment of fear of flying. The project attempts to combine basic anxiety treatment with a treatment for the Aerophobia, transforming it into a positive architectural experience and a therapeutic flow to cure people's fear of flying. This is achieved by reusing materials from the original site, reconfiguring different architectural forms and materials, implicitly giving patients a change from familiarity to insecurity to demonstrate the extent of their treatment and progress, and emotionally evoking the experience of the space.

The scheme allows these patients to reconnect to flying transportation after treatment by linking the two functions of the treatment centre and the vertiport, and transforming the eVTOL Aircraft ride into a positive flying experience.


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