a bed with wheels
The inemuri, that Japanese custom of taking a nap anywhere, from the subway to work meetings, has just reached warsaw through a very particular project: KEI-VAN Offline , a van designed by the architect dawid zalesky as part of CHATKA Offline , a project about the possibility of disconnecting in the city.
It is offered free of charge to residents of Warsaw upon reservation via email, and is designed by PL Studio and CTRL+N Studio specifically to take power naps -those short naps, in which you avoid falling into the REM phase of sleep- and to to meditate . Thus, it has a 185-centimeter mattress with bedding, a shelf to leave personal items, an aroma diffuser and a Bluetooth speaker, which works, like heating, with a solar panel.
"I was born in Kiezliny, a small town in the historical region of Warmia," Zalesky tells Traveler.es. "Sometimes I miss my childhood, when I could fully concentrate, be aware of my surroundings. Now I live in Warsaw, a big and dynamic capital, and my contact with nature is disturbed. It is not easy for me to understand what I want. I have always been interested in meditation and mindfulness, especially in a context of overwhelming stress and social change ", he recalls.
185 centimeters to rest
That interest was the germ of the project, whose greatest inspiration is, as we have already mentioned, the inemuri. The tradition, born precisely from the stressful life in the metropolis, caught the attention of the architect on a trip to Japan. However, it seems that the migration of the custom to Polish lands is not proving entirely successful: "I think people are not ready to be offered naps during the day , but I also think that will change, and that the response will grow every year," Zalesky reflects.
In line with his inclinations, the professional is also working on the implementation of a community garden, some wooden cabins, a carpentry workshop and a mushroom laboratory at the Wolski Cultural Center. "I want to create the possibility that the populations of large cities can use power naps, inemuri and mindfulness, in addition to facilitating contact with nature, without which our life on this planet would not exist", concludes the expert.
a breather in the city