"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 Salone booth, they have articulated four rooms (the Dining Room, the Bedroom, the Bathroom and the Home Office) that speak to the absurd hybrid of domestic and office environments. Hidden within floating chambers, each room poses a question that prompts visitors to reflect on the human qualities that differentiate us from machines in an increasingly automated world.

The installation marks the beginning of a long-term exploration for the company, which aims to understand where and how people live and work today. It has been nominated for two Frame Awards Milan: the Trade-Fair Stand of the Year and the Best Use of Materials Award.