The Institute for Functional Escapists
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Modern urban life can be said to have deprived us of many traditional sensory pleasures at the same time, it has inflicted on us many new sensory displeasures which are becoming greatly intensified by the immense growth of urban populations and the depletion of urban green spaces. The sonic, chemical and visual effluvia of the city are increasingly shown to be harmful to our physical well-being: noise pollution contributes to stress as well as to hearing loss, smog harms our bodies and impairs our sense of smell, and excessive exposure to artificial light may contribute to a range of health problems.
The Institute for Functional Escapists has a vital mission: to cultivate tactile values of intimacy, interaction and integration - values that promote engagement with our physical and social worlds in order to more effectively sustain both our cities and ourselves.
Our duties are wide-ranging, but our goal is clear - to counter the incessant effects of urban environments on city dwellers by providing them with opportunities to rediscover their surroundings and engaging them through pleasurable sensory experiences.