Arianna Di Donato
she/her
Don't Be A Stranger
Once upon a time, strangers talked to strangers.
They offered directions and compliments, sat beside us on benches, and shared one-liners that somehow stayed with us for years. These tiny interactions, quiet, fleeting, seemingly insignificant—used to be a thread in the everyday life. And slowly, we’re losing them.
In a city where we pass hundreds of people each day, genuine connection is becoming increasingly rare. Don’t Be a Stranger is a design research project that explores how public spaces might gently invite emotional presence and small, meaningful interactions between strangers once again.
Through workshops, interviews, and playful street-based interventions, the project investigates how loneliness, social norms, and digital distraction shape our experience of urban life — and how subtle, low-tech prompts can shift that experience.
The project aims to reimagine public spaces not as places we simply pass through, but as sites of potential warmth, recognition, and shared humanity.