‘Design must seduce, shape, and perhaps more importantly, evoke an emotional response’ – April Greiman – thinker and artist
Take a look at how our world and the way that we live has changed in the past 10 years – we have seen significant changes in our lifestyles, expectations and general awareness of what is happening around us. It starts to beg the question what do we have to look forward to as we move towards our future.
Looking at the big picture, humanity has moved from humble hunter gatherer and agrarian origins, through industrial ages, technological and medical advancements to the point now where we seek on mass to know how we can live better and experience more of what we desire.
We now live in an age where we are infinitely connected, free to do, be and achieve almost anything that we choose. No one can deny the common issues that present themselves are now on a far grander global scale.
So here we are, a decade into the new millennium, as a nation we have begun the cable rollout for our improved broadband network and the opportunities for amazing advancements in accessible home automation and information systems are set to present themselves on the market within the next five years.
Technology is set to become an even more important part of our working and home lives than it is today. This one factor is set to change the way that we live like nothing has before.
In the near future, our homes will be designed around comfort and efficiency. Integrated intuitive computer systems that are accessible from just about anywhere in the house will be responsible for running the various systems within our homes.
From climate control, light settings at particular times of the day, automatic grocery shopping, music and entertainment systems, access to information, telecommunications and internet, security systems and favorite house settings for different occasions – all done for us or changed at the touch of a screen.
Imagine watching the news report from your bathroom mirror as you are getting ready in the morning or pressing a button to instantly create the right mood when you are ready to spend some alone time with someone special.
The concept for living in the future goes beyond the expectations of greener homes and low impact living as these factors will be the preferred standard. Its larger in the sense that we will ask more from the spaces that we live in – how do they offer us a platform for living and how also do they make our lives easier through providing access to everything that we need?
On the flip side, what homes will need to offer is an opportunity to switch off from our fast paced super connection to the world around us and become our all important sanctuary to break away from that same world.
It’s a fundamental part of human nature that as one aspect of our lives changes, we seek to add balance to other areas of our lives accordingly.
As we accept the technology that gives us the ability to control, access and express our preferences with greater ease, we will take this concept further into the rest of our surroundings. Our homes in the future will be based heavily on our individual requirements.
Going forward, we can expect many new patterns to emerge. One in particular will respond to the requirement for practicality in our living environment.
As population increases, in an effort to blend affordable housing and location with population density, we will see smaller homes evolve with extremely well designed functionality built into their layout. This means multi function spaces that adapt themselves to a variety of purposes for everyday living.
Another major pattern will be homes on the scale that most of us are familiar with today that actively promote our lifestyles and choices. These homes will be of a more customized nature, with dedicated spaces to cater to our own preferences.
They will offer us spaces that enhance our enjoyment of pastimes such as relaxation, entertainment, socializing, intimacy, health and fitness and what ever else you can possibly imagine.
Through design and technology we will live in homes that make our lives easier, reflect our lifestyle requirements, leave us with more free time and most importantly play on our senses – our homes will make us ‘feel’ through adding a new sensory dimension to our experience.
Whether you decide to embrace this technology or not, it will affect us all at some level. Homes of tomorrow will add greatly to our lives. The irony is the same homes that offer us access to technology in an instant will also need to provide us with a sanctuary to allow us an escape from it at the same time.
For those of you who are interested, I’ll be posting video links showing you more about what to expect from homes in the future on my Matt Tucker Interiors Facebook page.
Matt Tucker
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