KONCH

KONCH was designed and built during the COVID-19 pandemic in Espoo, Finland. At the time, public spaces were mostly closed; the premises of schools and universities could be used only under special circumstances or not at all. However, studies had to continue; for the most part, there were few alternatives to online teaching. Poorly ventilated and limited capacity classrooms were sometimes available, but a better resource for activities at that time was the outdoors, where fresh air is available by default, and there is space that can be used in a way that respects local social distancing requirements. KONCH was built as a series of public space elements that could also be used for comfortable sitting and as communication devices. Each KONCH has a built-in half-duplex radio transceiver that simultaneously transmits to all connected elements nearby. In that way, a group of people can have a socially distanced and laid-back meeting without the need to raise their voices.