WHAT I’VE LEARNED

Billed as the world’s first nomadic hotel, Moliving is a prefabricated, moveable pod unit that can function alongside existing properties or stand alone in disconnected locales.

The fluid interior layout of Hyundai’s Seven concept suggests that cars of the future will be closer to homes on wheels, allowing travellers to relax and work on the road.

Courtesy of Hyundai

The best concepts will be those that reconcile tangible transformation of physical form with the more experiential journeys sought by perpetually wandering, horizon-chasing nomads

KIKI GOTI’s malleable, maximalist spaces are personalized by their temporary tenants

NYC-based architectural designer and educator Kiki Goti holds a master’s in Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research from the Institute for Computational Design at the University of Stuttgart and is the founder of SomePeople, a design studio exploring how emerging technologies – and their integration in architectural design and construction – change the spaces we live in. What was your biggest challenge in designing a space that caters to digital nomads? KG: How to create a sense of exploration and a sense of belonging at the same time. I believe digital nomads have a desire to feel both the comfort and familiarity of home and the excitement and curiosity that comes with travelling.

What about the current spaces on off er? They will need to adapt. In the past, sleek and minimalist spaces with no distinct references or connotations whatsoever were considered suitable for business travellers. The idea was that they would feel comfortable in some kind of universal space. But as work-from-home policies standardize and loosen up, the notion of the digital nomad is expanding. The group of people classifi ed under this term is now much more diverse. And that diversity should be refl ected in the spaces they live and work in – whether digital or physical.

That’s where your concept comes in. Tell me about the alternative you’re suggesting. I’ve envisioned physical and digital maximalist spaces that embrace colour, patterns and textures. These spaces are much more inclusive, safe and comfortable for the wide range of digital nomads that exist today. The spaces are not static, but rather ever evolving and in constant dialogue with their temporary residents. Communities of digital nomads can shape these spaces collectively through a participatory design process. It will also help them engage with and explore the places they inhabit, even if temporarily.

How do the physical and virtual aspects of your concept relate? Digital nomads can form communities online and, with the help of intuitive tools like gaming environments and other user interfaces, modify the design of their collective virtual spaces. The digital environments, in turn, will inform shared physical spaces, which thus become a refl ection of the virtual community in a mashup of colours, symbols and textures. This way, the environment becomes a dynamic space of co-creation and interaction that adapts to the unique needs of its habitants and will feel both familiar and uncanny: a sensorial feast that evokes some kind of exuberant domesticity.•

somepeople.studio kikigoti.com

Goti’s physical environments take their cues from the collective virtual spaces customized by online communities of digital nomads.

market

Classic models are revamped and reinvented, designers take a stand against overconsumption, furniture that shapes itself, and flexible seating for changing postures.

PIETRO FRANCESCHINI OLYMPUS To present the playful yet classic pieces of interior designer Pietro Franceschini’s Olympus collection, Sarah Venturini’s Fattura Studio toed the line between art, design and fashion. Shot at the Stefan Milosavljevic exhibition by The Flat Gallery in Milan, the display used metaphysical and surrealist elements set to an original soundtrack by electronic music producer Matisa to eloquently unveil the expressive furniture collection.

pietro-franceschini.com

FREELINGWATERS CABINET COLLECTION Artists Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters – together FreelingWaters – upcycled a set of 18th- and 19th-century cabinets by stripping, restoring and painting them with colourful, geometric patterns. Beyond each piece’s expressive casing, ornate images decorate the cabinets’ interiors. The depictions are a commentary on mass consumption, rejecting their original intended purposes as vessels for merely storing hordes of material objects.

@freelingwaters

CARPET EDITION THE FLOOR IS LAVA Inspired by volcanoes, Carpet Edition’s The Floor Is Lava rugs seemingly melt onto the floors beneath them. The series – designed by PLACéE – consists of six forms that capture the fluidity of lava, while its colour range spans more neutral tones to hues extracted from the digital world. New Zealand wool and Tencel yarns are tufted by hand to make the rugs.

carpetedition.com UNIFOR PRINCIPLES Office furniture manufacturer UniFor and architecture firm OMA have joined forces to ‘create a unique furniture line that responds to the needs of workplace culture in the 21st century’, says OMA partner Rem Koolhaas. With more than 100 modular elements intended to flexibly accommodate and facilitate office productivity, sociability and wellbeing, the Principles collection is a responsive and adaptive system of workplace furniture.

unifor.it