Archinect - News

UNStudio and Swiss furniture brand USM join forces in Milan to explore the boundaries between work and domesticity

2018-04-20T14:06:00-04:00

"Work rules our lives today more than ever," says the design team behind Homework, an installation at Milan Design Week's furniture focused event, the 2018 Salone del Mobile, that explores the historically shifting boundaries between private and public spaces.

In 2012, a study by a bed manufacturer found that 80% of young New York City professionals work from bed regularly. As technology increasingly invades our home life, the way we occupy domestic interiors has greatly shifted with the potential for work to be exported virtually anywhere. Many of the most profound revisions to the architecture of daily life have occurred through the blurring of these spaces and how they change the ways in which we inhabit them.

USM, a Swiss manufacturer that specializes in modular furniture, is exploring what this might mean for them. Enlisting the help of UNStudio, the team created a theatrical installation that envisions the changes taking place within the world of work.

In their...

If you can't stand the heat, get an outdoor kitchen (homeowners are, says AIA)

2017-03-23T13:02:00-04:00

Over the past century, kitchens have gone from being a back room to the center of many homes. Now, according to a new study released by the AIA, many homeowners are requesting outdoor kitchens, creating an uptick in work for residential architects. “Homeowners continue to find new ways to add value to their homes by creating more functional space, which is apparent in the rise in popularity of outdoor kitchens,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Kitchens have become a hub for the home, now homeowners want to bring some of that activity to their outside space.”

Co-living + 'nomadism': Roam wants you to sign a lease to live around the world

2016-05-05T12:58:00-04:00

If you can afford the airfare, it's getting easier to be a digital nomad. Roam, a new network of co-living spaces, offers a lease that lets you continually move: After a couple of weeks or months in Madrid, you can head to Miami, or Ubud, Bali. By 2017, the startup plans to have 8-10 locations around the world. These aren't designed as places for vacations. Instead, it's an alternative way to think about home for "location-independent" people who can work remotely.

"Residents each have their own private bedroom and bathroom, but they also have access to a coworking space and shared communal areas. The point is to meet as many people as possible."

Their website includes copy like, "A new way of living: Sign one lease. Live around the world," and, "Show up and find community everywhere." And high-speed wifi is guaranteed!

No place like home, eh? For more on the changing landscape of domesticity today, check out some related Archinect coverage:

AIRBNB Pavilion coming to Venice Biennale

2014-05-16T13:26:00-04:00

What used to be the fortress of the family and the individual is now a marketable asset in the economy, which leads to wonder whether the online marketplace for short-term lodging hasn't changed the home for good. [...] The AIRBNB Pavilion critically engages with the corporations owning the means of our identity, providing the infrastructure for our everyday lives and redefining the private realm and national borders.

Initiated independently from the Venice Biennale, a concurrent exhibition known as the "AIRBNB Pavilion" will occur in the homes of neighboring Venetians from June 4th to 6th, during the Biennale's opening week. While not apparently affiliated (officially speaking) with Airbnb, the Pavilion means to make explicit the sharing-economy's service as a new interpretation of domestic, private and public spaces, and its irreversible effect on housing and travel within cities.

The exhibition is curated by architects Alessandro Bava, Octave Perrault, Luis Ortega Govela and Fabrizio Ballabio, and will feature art and architectural works in a series of homes. Locations will be announced on June 3.