When Monocle started their Quality of Life Survey in 2006, one of the driving factors for designer, founder and editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé was the “lack of friction”. According to the survey, what makes a city great is that it is friction free: public transportation works, everyone can use public spaces and you can enjoy a really seamless existence. Besides Tokyo and Vienna, Berlin ranked high on the Quality of Life Survey 2017.

Friction-free experiences

Friction-free, seamless experiences were exactly what we aimed for when designing the Connected City for Siemens Home Appliances on their annual IFA trade fair stand in Berlin. The idea: you don’t  have to visit the actual city to discover its unique spirit and extraordinary places. Dawdling about the main thoroughfare, each new place felt like home, full of inspiration and new impulses. Starting with a Joop fashion show, continuing with intelligent urban living solutions such as a networked ecosystem for a better quality of life: The Home Connect app. Eventually the Siemens Connected City aims to be a carefully curated guide full of recommendations for smooth, fulfilling living in today’s metropolises.

Concept, architecture: Schmidhuber, Munich
Concept, communication: Blackspace