Malleable Space-Use
BEYOND THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL…
As outlined in ‘Space that Works Hard’, yesterday’s notion of ‘multi-functional space-use is expanding into new resilient forms. Across all industries, this is leading to smart new models for intelligent space-use.
Before long, as the notion of agility expands into malleability, space will have to deliver more. Become more memorable…more responsive…more sustainable…more convenient…more content-rich. The list is endless.
But this is an exciting challenge, and the models we’re seeing of ‘using space better’ are amazing. Space-use is being stretched, manipulated, out on wheels, turned upside-down, flipped back-to-front, popping up briefly only to fade away when not needed…
In an interview by Aesop’s literary platform The Fabulist, Frida Escobedo (the creator behind the 2018 Serpentine Gallery pavilion), commented on the new necessities in space-use: “I think one needs to plan for change. Make everything more flexible in every way, so that the building becomes more like a palm tree and less like a completely rigid structure, because that’s the one that will fall down. Rigid things collapse.”
Space is BLENDING
As touched on in our introduction, the multifunctional has been around for a while. But this notion of ‘beyond multifunctional’ is where we’re playfully exploring new ground. Whether it’s about the number of different functionalities woven in together; the unexpected nature of the combinations; or the ingenious way of bringing them together, the boundaries around space-use are being tested.
We’re seeing examples of space-use that is blended so well that we can’t actually qualify it as one thing or another. We’ve seen this shift happen initially in workplace, where innovative office environments have blazed a trail in bringing together a range of offerings under one roof.
For the last 10 years, the trend has been to make us nomad. Piloting various models such as remote working and hot-desking — making the entire world our office. We are now flipping the formula towards our office incorporating the world. We will explore the shifting shape of workplace further in an upcoming issue but for now it’s interesting to see how this notion of ‘blended offerings’ is showing up across a wide range of industries and services.
> Book and Bed: Said to be inspired by a bookstore that offered overnight stays, Book and Bed Tokyo is a great twist on the good ol’ B&B model. Featuring a curated selection of books by the acclaimed Shibuya Publishing & Booksellers, it capitalises on the charming combination of reading and bedtime — instantly evoking a sense of home and comfort. By simply inviting guests to ‘have a book night’, Book and Bed taps into the much coveted area of making time — and space — for yourself.
> Combining senses: L’Occitane and Pierre Hermé have joined their indulgent offerings in an interactive ‘shared store’ in Paris. Although it’s perhaps not the most surprising combination, it’s certainly a clever one — it capitalises on the complementary nature of both brands, which they are dubbing ‘unexpected encounters’. By blending their offerings they create a heightened sensorial experience for the visitors… bathing them in olfactory and culinary treats.This collaboration has also expanded beyond the physical realm into a new product offering — the co-creation of the perfume collection ’86 Champs’: ‘Unexpected combinations are the essence of this exclusive range’ (uk.loccitane.com)
> The new Concept Space: STORY is a great example of a space that is so blended we can’t actually qualify it as one thing or another. Still currently labelled Concept Spaces (for now), these experimental-type environments bring together a range of offerings under one roof.
STORY is one of the more effective examples of this movement. It very consciously builds on the various characteristics of the offerings it weaves together, to define its quite unique essence: “Point of view of a Magazine. Changes like a Gallery. Sells things like a Store.”
Part Gallery, part co-working, part shop, the space also embraces the current demand for constant stimulation by reinventing itself every 6–8 weeks. Similarly to retail innovator Gentle Monster, STORY understands that a changing landscape is a highly powerful tool. The balance of consistently rich content, presented in a ‘changeable package’ is a combination that ensures a returning clientele.
Space is slowing down… and SOFTENING
As we’ve touched on in Intelligent Space, brands are seeing the benefits of gathering more in-depth knowledge on the startling truths behind the brain and its perceptions. And how designed elements of an experience can influence our senses, movements and behaviours. This is causing shifts across all sectors, from designers focusing on wellbeing in the workplace, to retailers embedding tactile, sensory experiences in their physical stores.
These past years it’s felt like the world has sped-up and we are all needing some R&R (explore more on this in our recent studies on Moods). Space-use is responding by offering soothing environments where time seems to slow down. Recreation is prioritised over sales per square foot, as retail settings are transformed into almost meditative environments.
> You snooze you win: Nap York is a direct response to fast-paced city life, offering a place to rest within the relentless running. The space builds on the positive effects of Biophilic design (our piece on Natural looks into this as a leading area in the future of our built environments) weaving them in with the latest innovations in sleep accoutrement. The Sleep Pods are sold as being: “Hand-crafted locally in New York City, our eco-friendly pods are designed with privacy, safety, and sound insulation in mind. […] providing you with sleep unlike any you’ve ever had.” (napyork.com)
But to make the offer even more enticing, it’s been coupled with the (increasingly pre-required) practicalities of co-working and food. When you can rest, work and eat in one sumptuous environment would you ever want to go anywhere else?
> Google puts hardware in softer settings: Spring 2018, the tech giant made its first appearance at Milan Design Week — commentating on the upsides to our digital futures, and the potentials for our devices to blend seamlessly, and softly, into everyday life. Google’s experience — playfully entitled Softwear — featured products in domestic scenarios, dotted among soft wall hangings, intricate textures and hand-crafted objects. The visitors could walk through a series of intimate spaces with a tactile, soothing — but also somewhat foreboding — atmosphere. Aiming at bringing a truly sensorial — and more human — dimension to our digital lifestyles.
Space is ROLLING
Our imagined sci-fi future is moving closer. Cities are being organised in entirely new ways to best tackle urban growth. Being designed to make high-density city living healthier, and more human. And our streets are opening up to new possibilities, with driverless cars integrating seamlessly into the urban environment.
Autonomous vehicles will soon enough become the norm. Self-driving technologies will transform not only the way we travel, but also how we interact with each other. As giant car-brands are shifting strategies and repositioning themselves as companies for ‘mobility’, we are seeing wild visions of a future where not only cars move around, but where space itself has wheels.
The concept of ‘Mobility’ wears many hats, and fulfils a variety of functions — such as a self-driving medical clinic, a 24hour grocery store on wheels, a luxury moving hotel and a pizza delivery robot.
> IDEO’s ‘The Future of Automobility’: A digital platform launched by the global design firm, imagining the shapes and ways in which we may move people, things and spaces around in the future. IDEO’s exploratory thinking covers ideas such as ride-sharing perks, customised experiences, working on the go, money-and time-saving solutions.
> The Dynamic Street: A vision and prototype for a modular, reconfigurable cityscape — exploring how a street could become more dynamic and instantly adaptable. A modular paving system featuring hexagonal pavers that can be picked up and replaced swiftly — enabling a stretch of road to be used for different functions and different times.
> Ikea’s ‘Spaces on Wheels’: An exploratory project by Ikea’s research engine Space10 — envisaging 7 different autonomous vehicles, combining mobility with concepts such as shared living, digital fabrication and locally-sourced food. Design solutions include a mobile pop-up store, a driving office, a farm on wheels and a traveling game-room. Alongside the vehicles, Space10 have launched an app where the spaces can be booked and experienced through AR.
Space is FLIPPED back to front
This notion of curiously upturning our surroundings to seek what might be on ‘the other side’ has always been present in our exploratory existence as humans. How else would we explain the yearning for space travel!? And our mass fear-meets-fascination for ‘The Upside Down’, the dark parallel dimension in the gripping, nostaligia-heavy series Stranger Things?
It plays with the fact that nothing can be predicted, we can’t control life. There is always an unexpected angle, something beyond what we see: a flip side.
> Art turned inside-out: Copenhagen is home to many intriguing artful events, but one that recently caught our attention was the annual cultural festival, Golden Days. With its 2018 theme The Black Stain, the festival hosted a month-long series of events around the ‘forgotten B-sides of Denmark’s history’. The programme included unusual concepts such as ‘B-side’ art tours studying scribbles and marks on the backsides of paintings, and examining the soft curves of the “best bums” of statues around the city… a quirky, unexpected way to show high-brow content through a perhaps less elitist lens.
> Altered states @ Selfridges: The high-end retail store hosted a month-long experience in The Old Selfridges Hotel, coined The Flipside. Visitors were invited down a rabbit hole of dark and exploratory-toned installations, experiences and performances — bringing to life a constellation of artistic studies, on the theme of Radical Luxury. All played on the unexpected, challenging what is known, and experimented with our perceptions of states: “In The Flipside we invited you to explore altered states of luxury” (selfridges.com)
> MINI aims to turn architecture upside-down: Each year, Milan Design Week only seems to intensify with giant brands making bold moves in the cultural scene. At the 2018 Salone del Mobile, MINI presented a future vision for urban living, relying heavily on a tightly-knit collaboration between residents and architects.
The MINI LIVING installation Built by All, invited visitors to participate in designing personal habitats, and co-creating future spaces ‘from within’: “ Turning ‘conventional top-down design process in architecture upside down’.”
Space is SHRINKING
The past two decades have seen tremendous urban growth worldwide — perhaps with the most rapid acceleration occurring in Chinese cities. These factors obviously have an impact on the lifestyles of urbanites. Yet they bring a complete reshaping and reimagining of the ways in which we use space. Including new concepts for compact homes and tiny living, which we will expand on in further writing.
> Portable, intelligent spaces: The Austin-based start-up Kasita has developed a flexible solution for the growing housing crisis — in the form of a clever portable capsule that can fulfil several functions, whether it’s as a guest house, a rental unit, a workspace or a rural retreat.
The brand promises that each Kasita takes only weeks to put together — arriving kitted out with the latest smart technology. The capsules are able to move between locations, requiring you only to log into the app to schedule the move!
> Modularity is key: Fabrica’s Small-Space Concept, backed by AP (Thailand) Public Company Limited, a property developer in Thailand, is a flexible and modular spatial solution to student accommodation. This radical co-living concept challenges preconceptions around the amounts of space we actually need, and addresses the fine balance between the benefits of community focused shared space, and the individual’s need for personal space — or what the designers refer to as an experiment in “social overlapping.”
> Compact urban cabins for rent in Beijing: Yet again, ‘mobility’ brand MINI shines the way towards more flexible lifestyles in the future. With a new housing concept in the Chinese capital, MINI Living proposes a series of compact and flexible urban spaces to rent from 2019.
All with the intent to maximise quality of life within smaller, and more affordable, pockets of space.
