In the recent years travelling by plane lost its status of reserved only for high-class means of transport. Cheap airlines and their offers become a better alternative than cars and even railways. We fly more and often a lot farther than we used to. The fact of being in a metal tube controlled by a routine pilot high in the sky - does not terrify us anymore. Furthermore, plane crashes are becoming a rare accident making this way of travelling low-cost, fast and safe.

Nowadays, travelling between time zones takes place almost always by using a plane. However, flight time is so short that it is hard to get accustomed to
a new hour. Sleeping could be helpful in such situations but it is nearly impossible to get any because of various conditions and our comfort. Lengthy transfers, stress and spending the whole duration of a flight by being strapped to a tight chair in a claustrophobic space, makes us weary after arrival. We feel disoriented by a different daytime, people’ behaviour and surroundings. In combination, this factors can unbalance our biological clock and trigger a so-called jet lag.

 

In the 20th century, it was considered that jet lag has only a psychological basis. This statement turned out to be false and many researches concluded that
it is a syndrome of psycho-physical disorders, happening after travelling between many time zones. Additionally, we created a special survey in order to ask for peoples’ reactions to jet lag and to further understand the problem.

 

„The thing with crossing time zones and travelling between them is that it’s harder to adapt to coming back home. Every time after something like this you have an unbalanced clock, however, I think that after arriving in a new place it is easier to adapt.”

 

„The worst was after coming back to my country, even if I woke up early and was super tired, at night I couldn’t fall asleep  until 4-5 a.m. and getting up at 8 was
a nightmare like no other.”

 

„I wonder if a seat type in plane matters and if cosiness of that plane can somehow make our flight nicer and reduce jet lag symptoms. Apart from that, maybe
it is possible to build a transitional place to adapt after arrival...”

 

„Jetlags are hard stuff!”

 

„After my trip to the United States, I noticed that jet lag symptoms are far worse after flying back [in that case flying west]. It is possible that due to a day getting shorter our organism doesn’t know what’s going on and simply doesn’t keep up.”

 

„Time changes are somewhat annoying, even if there is a difference of one hour. It is hard for us when we must get up or go to sleep at an unnatural time, however thankfully after a couple of days everything goes back to normal.”  

 

The visible spectrum of light has a different wavelength, which directly influences light shade - the one seen by human eye. People were designed by nature
to work at daytime. The blue shade which corresponds to a clear sky sends an information to our organism - it is daytime, time for action. Contrary, orange light similar to a setting sun tells us that it is bedtime and all activity should end.

Probably it does not sound very harmful, however, exposing to blue light for too long can be very dangerous to our health. This kind of light is emitted by LED illumination, computer screens and even smartphones. Statistics show that people exposed to this at unnatural hours (security guards, people working night shifts) suffer from breast or prostate cancer, diabetes and obesity more frequently than people working at daytime.  

 

At Harvard University, an experimental research was carried out on a group of 10 people. Their biological clock was changed by exposing them to blue light
at unnatural hours. The result was very clear - in their blood, the amount of sugar risen dramatically and at the same time - the amount of leptin (the hormone responsible for the feeling of satiety) dropped.  Jet lag is a similar situation to working night shifts and can be as dangerous, therefore it is very important to get accustomed to a new time of day.

 

To prevent jet lag disorders, it is necessary to create a specific day plan for each person. At a staged in a room cold blue light intensity will slowly rise. After some time the light will be strong enough to wake a hotel guest. Colour and power of light will change during day - after blue it will become neutral white
and next at sunset its power will lower turning into a warm orange and yellow shade. Lastly, it will fade into black, allowing the guest to fall asleep. This change during the day will occur in a smooth and delicate way.

 

Entrance is designed to signalize coming into a completely different space. The form of the building and room layout is inspired by the borders of time zones. There are 24 rooms and they take around 15 degrees each of full circle. I created only one floor of rooms, however, it would be possible to create more.
The layout of rooms is not linear, it consists of bends and turns. It was designed to extend the path of light. In a central part of the hotel, neutral light shines all day. The same type of illumination is at the beginning of rooms as well. Bends and turns help to adapt to a neutral light shining at the common area. In the treatment of jet lag symptoms, contact with nature and water is very important. This is why every room has its own winter garden with locally found vegetation. Additionally, the common area is filled with plants and green walls.

 

The main idea was to create a place with 24 different time zones. However, it is highly unlikely that a situation like this will happen. In that case, flexibility
is very crucial. The rooms are programmed to specific guests and their original time zones, even those from local time zone. Their stay in the hotel could be
a prolonged vacation before coming back to normal life.

 

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