Sophia Stoewer

Four Mothers childhoodstress managementspeculative design

The term stress originally comes from materials science and describes the resisting power of a material before it breaks. 1950, stress was introduced into psychology by the physician and hormone researcher Hans Selye to describe the unspecific reaction of humans and animals to any kind of demand. Later, he introduced the concepts of disstress and eustress, assigning them a significant role in our societal and intersocial relations. Whereas the latter energizes us and describes a situation of openness, the former makes us feel overcharged and is perceived as uncomfortable and threatening.

Sophia Stoewer's diploma work Four Mothers examines early childhood strategies for coping with stress in order to make them fruitful in everyday life for adults. The resulting objects are tools that expand the own, already existing pool of strategies for stress management: A super heavy blanket simulates skin-like body pressure; a rhythmically purring torso-shaped arm holds your body and regulates the frequency of your heart beat; four different jewelries motivate sucking and thus stimulate the parasympathic nervous system; a mirror shows you always a bit happier than you actually are, making you embrace your rather positive minded self.

While the figure of the mother functions as a symbol for a primary caregiver, associated with a feeling of security and a feeling of belonging, Four Mothers provokes questions about care work, affection and intimacy in times of physical distancing, digitalization and virtualization.

Ornis delicateagilelight

Observing the fluid movement, the attentive eye captures its morphology: balancing on the tip of the graceful staff, a play between silhouette, light and shadow emerges. It is the freely swivelling lampshade, composed of a fine aluminium leaf, which is folded into an amorphous three-dimensional shape. The spine of the lamp modestly operates beyond the spotlight: a discreet clamp that holds the shade, gives the LEDs a home, and establishes the movable connection to the rod in the form of a magnetic ball joint. In this way, the lighting situation can be specially adapted to one's needs and a choice can be made between direct and indirect light.

Tourist public spaceamorph formsindividual behaviors

Tourist is a combination of furniture and sculpture for public spaces. It serves diverse habits and needs of people and offers, with the help of amorphous forms, a variety of applications. The use is not defined, in fact numerous possibilities are offered, which each person can interpret himself and perceive on the basis of individual behaviours. There are three different versions. All objects can be rotated by 180°, which in turn creates a completely new form and usability. In cooperation with Mathias Lempart and Hauke Unterburg

Lytling everyday helperprimal instinctstress reduction

The Lytling product family is based on early childhood behavioral structures and primal instincts to compensate stress and unfamiliar environments. These primal instincts also work well with adults, creating a sense of relaxation and comfort by simple triggers. By appealing to the subconscious, the objects act very subtle and even more profound.

ANeck pillow impulsesweightgrounding

Low-frequency bass sends impulses to the back muscles. Due to the natural weight of the neck pillow, the user experiences a grounding in himself and a sense of security, as if someone would put their arm around his shoulders. You can choose between four different impulses: an abstracted heartbeat, cat purring, the rattling of train tracks, or a wave.

BBite splint suctionstress reductionsecret

The most common cause of teeth grinding is stress. Nucking relieves stress. But it is frowned upon in adulthood. It's about time that nucking becomes socially acceptable again! In a conventional bite splint, a teat is integrated. A fine brass wire circumscribes the inner shape of the teat and appears on the lips as a jewel. As a result, the suction pulse is passed as a contraction to the lips. But it´s the secret of the user what happens inside the mouth.

CFaceshield retreatisolationprivacy

Everyone knows the wish to just close your eyes or pull a blanket over your head when you feel overwhelmed. The Faceshield generates a private and screened retreat. The brass reflects outwards and creates an aura of strength. Inside there is soft leather, the sounds are muffled, the eyes can procrastinate - you are calmed down by the isolation.

DOdor Altar ritualvaporisationproximity

In a ritualized storyline, a personal textile is infused with the scent of a familiar person or a past experience. The fragrance penetrates deep into the fibers through water vapor, releasing a subtle but long-lasting odor. When its removed from the glass cylinder, the fabric is slightly warm and moist as if someone has just removed it from their own skin.

Pneumatica bodycultinflatable suitesocial critic

The project is based on Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, which is more current than ever. Many questions and images come to mind: body cult, individuality, power, conformity, emotional closeness, genetics,... Pneumatics can be understood as social criticism: A suit made of individually inflatable air cushions. The pillows are deliberately kept in abstract shapes to create a new "superman". It looks strong on the outside, but inside it is cramped and limited. It plays with perception, interpretation and sci-fi. The work consists of suit, photo gallery and video.

Janus reductionflexibilityportability

Flexible, location-independent, without borders - our society. Under these aspects, the battery-based light Janus emerged in cooperation with the company Nimbus. It is small, handy and lightweighted. The Oled module provides flat, bright light. The two legs are infinitely rotatable by 270°, so that you can put the lamp almost anywhere, hanging over something or pinched to something. In Collaboration with Gerit Plautz.

L'Âme mass customisationembossingself-identification

We live in an increasingly anonymized time. Self-identification and awareness of tradition are becoming more and more obsolete. The vase series L'Âme is aimed at those who are proud of their origins. Of what they have achieved and who they are. The customer can have his personal initials engraved on the still-soft porcelain. They become one with the form. In contrast to the precision of the letters the soft natural deformation accompanies the manual intervention. That way, the production effort is manageable thanks to the limitation and possibility of recombining the parameters.

The Duck overdimensionhomagebuoy

The over dimensional cork duck is a persiflage of the well known mass product, which is manufactured in hundreds of variations. The intention is to focus on the aesthetic roots of the original rubber duck and to celebrate the architype. The material is sustainable and eco-friendly in contrast to the polluting synthetic material. The Duck can be used as a buoy, a bath toy or just an easy-care pet.

TAB membranefeelinclusion

The heart of the monolithic wristwatch is the membrane. This doesn’t only keep dirt off the watch, but also prying eyes. Anyone who wants to know the time has to pause a moment and trust their instincts. Only then can they feel the hourpoint on the pointer plate. The threshold between seeing and being blind disappears. The simple change from bracelet to brace allows further applications, such as for the secret-time-readers, but also arm-claustrophobics.