A Converted Flat in 2049: The Innovo Room of the Future
This is an evolving design by the Interaction Research Studio of Northumbria University and supported by Innovo.
The Innovo Room of the Future takes an imaginative look at what real peoples’ homes may look like amidst future societal challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and technological advances. It is a dynamic, evolving space, which will be updated over time with interactive artefacts from forthcoming projects by the Interaction Research Studio, to reflect societal and technological change.
Background
The Thames bursts
Storm surges overwhelmed the Thames Barrier, which was deemed no longer capable of protecting against extreme weather events. As rising waters reshaped London forever, property speculators made a killing from the skyrocketing value of higher lands in the city’s previously unfashionable districts.
New Kent joins EU
By the early 2040s, the government had chosen Kent to house an influx of over three million climate refugees. Its huge workforce of global talents allowed the area to prosper, and after a vote for independence from the UK, ‘New Kent’ successfully lobbied for EU membership.
Peak Carbon
Despite global tension and corporate heel-dragging, the green economic revolution finally pays off as atmospheric greenhouse gasses decline for the first time in centuries. Global temperatures will continue to increase for years to come, but everybody enjoys a new sense of hope.
Personal stories
Jo
Jo (b. 1968) enjoys good health despite a hedonistic youth and career organising club nights in Ibiza. After years of flat sharing with friends, following their mother’s death, Jo moved in with their daughter Mila’s family. The flat is crowded but rents are high and the group harmonious, so Jo thinks they’ll stay as long as possible.
Ali
Ali (b. 2030) was born in Hackney and plans to spend his life in the area. He belongs to the ‘Healer’ movement; a networked collective of 500 million people who renounce pursuits that drain the planet’s resources. Ali volunteers for the local care home, which also entitles him to the Universal Basic Income.
What's happening
It is mid-afternoon, and Mila is laying the table while her son Ali sets his farm-free food machine to start producing protein patties for dinner. Mila’s partners Yusuf and Bolanie are scrambling through the storage sofa to find the right clothes for their date night. Meanwhile Jo, the eldest member of the household, has been lost for hours in the memory intensification system re-living their glory days raving in 1990s Ibiza.
Outside the flat’s windows, waves of autonomous vehicles crawl by, while energy kites, emissions patrol drones and green buildings soar above the hundreds of pelicans roosting on the fringe of the Great Hackney Marsh.
Things to look out for
Farm-Free Protein Machine
Having used similar food synthesisers in her job servicing offshore wind farms, Bolanie bought this domestic appliance for Ali. It would suit his farm-free food diet and, she hoped, would be more cost effective than buying groceries from the FarmLess store on Hackney Road.
Mycelium insulation
Yusuf chuckled when Ali first suggested using mycelium to insulate the flat, but now the family could not imagine life without these fungal panels, which help protect against weather extremes. Most accommodation in older properties is still uninsulated, and so for renters moving frequently between homes, their own stock of insulation panels often proves a smart investment.
The mycelium panels used in this room were kindly donated by Myceen
HighPoint memory intensification system
While Yusuf is concerned about Jo's dependence on the memory machine, he secretly takes nostalgic trips based on Ali's childhood videos during sleepless nights. He always sets an early alarm to recharge the device and revert to Jo's high-intensity settings before they wake.
About
About Interaction Research Studio
The Interaction Research Studio use design-led methodologies to explore technologies for everyday life to provide an alternative to the industry-led versions of digital consumerism. Their practice-based research combines expert design and making skills, inventive research methods, and expertise in embedded and ubiquitous technologies. This allows them to produce highly finished products embodying new ideas about life with and through technologies, which they can produce and study at scale for long-term field studies and circulation to the public.
Their designs often create situations rather than solving problems, encouraging playfulness, exploration and insight in a wide variety of domains. Their work is inherently interdisciplinary, and the team works from the London campus of Northumbria University. https://research.northumbria.ac.uk/irs/
About Innovo
Innovo, an industry leader in construction, development and innovation across the built environment, specialises in the design, engineering, construction and infrastructure financing of major real estate projects across four continents.
Building on 35 years’ experience as a leader in the middle eastern built environment, Innovo’s portfolio includes a vast range of major projects, including high-rise towers, luxury residential developments, villa communities, educational facilities, commercial hubs, and critical urban infrastructure. Innovo is defined by purpose - commitment to using cutting-edge technology; working sustainably across the value chain; and combining diverse expertise from across its extensive workforce to create trusted industry relationships.
Innovo is headquartered in London with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Toronto, Cairo, Senegal, and Riyadh.
For more information, visit the Innovo website.
Looking for more?
Come and immerse yourself in the rooms, and discover the personal stories and social history behind them, at the Museum.