Home & living
Colour Flow update November 2023
Home & living
The house as an ecosystem
Welcome to the Colour Flow Home & living update. At a time with many emerging challenges and realities, OvN's report on the future of the home is dedicated to thinking about the home as part of a system. By asking bigger questions, such as 'What is a house?' 'What does it mean to live on Earth?' and 'Can we dream of a better way of living together?' a vision of the home as a connected ecosystem emerges.
Climate change, cultural shifts, and technological and global developments come together and redefine the essence of what we consider home. Throughout human history, the concept of "home" has transformed from simple shelters where people worked and produced necessities to more permanent structures that fostered stable communities. As agriculture and civilization progressed, houses took on emotional and psychological meaning. The Industrial Revolution led to standardization and mass-produced housing that became accessible to many people.
The new paradigm for home and living moves towards homes that will no longer be static structures but evolve into flexible, dynamic and responsive environments. By considering the home as an ecosystem, we look at the systems around the home and the links between houses, homes, and the natural and physical world. By mimicking natural ecosystems, houses can evolve into self-sustaining entities, circulating and contributing resources like food, water, energy and materials back into their surroundings. This approach enhances the local environment and supports a sustainable coexistence between human habitats and the broader biosphere.
Banner image, BOSK a walking forest of more than a thousand trees by Arcadia
You can download the PDF of the report here
Content
A house is part of nature
Resilience
Food & waste streams
Material culture
Outsourcing our daily needs
Fluid technology
Energy & light flows
Emotional connectivity
Future lives
The role of colour
Chairs made from a mixture of waste wool and bio-resin by Solidwool
Future Living Project in Berlin by GSW Sigmaringen and Panasonic, a complex of 69 Smart Home apartments that combine demographic aspects with nature, energy efficiency, electromobility and information technology.
A house is part of nature
The whole system of living
The relationship between society and natural ecosystems reshapes our view of home and life and gives rise to a holistic approach that integrates people into the biophysical world. An integrated whole system of life includes ecology, economics and physics. It emphasises interdependence and the need for homes to mimic natural systems within a larger ecological framework.
Home is more than a place; it is a hub of people, resources and information flows and requires a framework that transcends people-centred sustainability. It calls for a system that symbiotically blends nature with our built environment, helping to restore the planet's health.
Our view of home should promote community and prioritise nature to recover. Future housing must support routines that integrate with the environment, using a systems approach that balances the building, systems, flows, climate and inhabitants to form a harmonious ecosystem.
The world needs to build 96,000 new affordable homes every day to house the estimated 3 billion people who will need access to adequate housing by 2030.
UN-Habitat
Urban living connected to nature by Bloom Architecture in Phnom Penh
Chair carved into raw pieces of wood by Alicja Kwade
TerraCool is an innovative architectural solution developed to combat urban heat using ceramics for passive cooling through evaporation by Dilara Temel and Lachlan Fahy
Flood resilient home by Ushijima Architects, in case of flooding, the upper part can float like a boat.
Resilience
Safe spaces
The recent UNEP report shows that global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 1.2 per cent between 2021 and 2022, and the Earth has already warmed by about 1.2 degrees. The warmer the Earth, the greater the risk of floods, drought and other extreme conditions. Future homes require a long-term vision of what safe housing means.
Landscape design matters for future homes, with the strategy to be adaptive to the force of water by retaining water at the site or slowing down water flow. The search for resilient homes can lead to reevaluating rural areas when they are on higher ground. An alternative is to explore “blue cities” with floating houses expanded on the water or homes raised on stilts.
“Instead of seeing water just as an enemy, we see it as an opportunity.”
A Rotterdam city official
Powerful inspiration for the evolution of homes and their surroundings can be found in ancient wisdom and nature’s resilience. By emulating the strength found in nature, future homes can become dynamic entities that provide shelter and actively participate in the sustainability and stability of the surrounding environment.
Floating houses
Floating Office Rotterdam designed by Powerhouse Company for the Global Centre on Adaptation. The floating building can anticipate rising water levels.
MetaFlow diagram for food of the city of Vancouver by Dr. Philip Mansfield. Insights to create a more connected food web within the city.
Europe’s largest rooftop farm in Paris, Nature Urbaine, can produce 10 tons of produce each season
Food and waste streams
Waste management is part of home life
In the current paradigm of living, cities and houses function as linear systems with energy, material, and food flowing in one direction. The future home is not just a passive endpoint for food consumption but must be part of a sustainable, community-oriented food system. Urban planning is vital in facilitating city food flow, making local produce accessible and reducing food waste. Creating communal gardens, urban farmers' markets and neighbourhood food hubs helps distribute local food efficiently, strengthens community bonds, and supports the local economy while minimizing food waste during transportation and storage. Every redundant layer in the food system must be removed so that food remains healthy and affordable and the ecological footprint associated with food transport is reduced.
Over one-third of global food production, around 1.3 billion tons, is lost or wasted annually. Unless we take urgent action, global waste will grow by 70 per cent by 2050 (World Bank report). Future homes must focus on minimizing waste, incorporating efficient waste stations and recycling streams. Designated areas for sorting and storing recyclables will connect seamlessly with city recycling, making waste management an effortless part of home life.
"The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food."
Dean Ornish
Communal compost bins in Paris, a project by the French government set up to reduce food waste now has 350 bins across Paris
Home grown vegetables in containers by Hu Dan
Myx Sail by Jonas Edvard made from mushroom mycelium and plant fibres
DNA cotton sculpture by by Mx Atelier
Material culture
Regenerative design
The need for responsible material choices in architecture and design involves tracking material flows from production to end-of-life stages. The food justice movement provides a model for responsible material use, highlighting the interconnectedness of resource use, landscape impact, and global material dynamics. Environmental labelling and understanding material origins allow designers to make better decisions that do not impact the planet.
In ecological design, form emerges from understanding ecological relationships, moving the design profession from an exploitation base to stewardship and turning waste into regeneration. This approach advocates for products that align with nature's rhythms and material flows. Materials such as coconut husks and mycelium promote a bio-economy and illustrate the potential of repurposing waste into valuable resources. This approach creates homes that use waste for new purposes to create toxin-free living environments.
Bio-based materials are low energy and low carbon materials, they are recyclable, use locally available materials.
Milk casein fiber made from waste milk unfit for human consumption, photo by Sara Martinsen
A new organic material language representing the complexity of systems by Tina Heger
Outsourcing daily needs
Compact evolution
The evolving values of a new generation are steering a transition from materialist to 'post-materialist' perspectives, marked by an increased awareness of global, distributed influences such as capitalism and climate change. Post-materialist values emphasize autonomy, diversity, participation, self-actualization, personal relationships, creativity, and environmental stewardship.
Smaller living creates a significant shift towards outsourcing daily needs. Many people are relying on external amenities to supplement their living spaces. Supermarkets serve as extended pantries or food is delivered, libraries as personal study areas, cafes as social meeting spots, and laundromats as laundry rooms. This not only changes how people interact with their immediate living environment but also impacts how we think about communal spaces.
The demand for smaller living spaces will increase as more people live alone. This shift encourages a move towards more compact and efficient designs.
Reading festival at the car-free Jamsugyo Ttuk Ttuk Ttuk event held every Sunday in Jamsugyo, Seoul, South Korea
Spilytus Microapartment in Tokyo, 95-square-foot or 8,8 M2
Flexible living sytem by Beyome a robotic furniture system that changes 45m2 house into 90 M2, Lavapies, Madrid
Technology
The combination of digital innovation and physical infrastructure transforms how homes function and promotes environmental awareness among residents. Smart home technologies offer opportunities to improve the sustainability and efficiency of homes. Technology enables real-time monitoring and control, optimising energy consumption and reducing environmental impact.
In the world to come, you won't move your things, they will move around you.
Smart AI home systems can create customised routines by learning from user preferences and behavior. These systems can adapt to individual behavior by changing lighting and temperature, making optimal use of energy and anticipating the preferences of residents. Smart objects make on-demand spaces the new normal, almost every possible space becomes customizable. The universe of mobility is expanding with possibilities to live and move in the world like never before. Smart home technologies make people active participants in the unfolding digital world of life.
Dong Jin Hyun
Is home a button? by Space Caviar
Tactile woven privacy screen by Fenna van der Klei
E-mobility home charging solution by ABB
Drop Houses by Sizhe Huang is a project to design of our physical surroundings based upon the reality of our online life, proposing new types of hybrid spaces
Energy and light flows
Cyclical models
Homes are moving away from linear energy flows to a more cyclical, ecosystem-like model where energy is stored and reused; a closed system mimics how ecosystems conserve solar energy.
The integration of energy and light cycles into the functionality of the home is a fundamental shift in home design.
Advanced technologies will enable the use of off-grid, renewable energy sources such as solar panels, green hydrogen and thermal heat. This integration reduces dependence on traditional electricity grids and increases the sustainability and self-sufficiency of homes.
The orientation to the sun and living with the light is important for the maximum use of natural heating and lighting. Design features such as strategic placement of windows and materials with good thermal mass will harness solar energy for heating while trees and natural area’s provide cooling shade. Solar-centric designs reduce energy needs and improve quality of life by optimising natural light.
The Daylight House by Japanese architect Takeshi Hosaka reduces the need for artificial lighting
Biosolar roof, combining green roofs and rooftop solar panels Green Gains-Barangaroo in Sidney
Solar facade panels by Solarix
Emotional connectivity
Our sense of home is shaped by emotional bonds and sensory experiences, the construction of identities and collective emotional responses to place attachment is crucial in cultivating solidarity within the community. This emotional connectivity underlines the need for communal resilience as single-person households become more common.
Our emotional experiences and attachments are the essence of what we consider home. Humans, as sensory beings, give spaces meaning through feelings of attachment, creating a tapestry of identity that is woven into their living spaces.
Camden apartment by Campbell-Rey
Potted candle course by Emma Louise Payne
Repairing, photo by Sayuri Murook
Future lives
How we spend our time
Our future lives will be very different than today. Our work may be automated and we may have much more free time. Technology will be smoothly integrated into our daily lives. In a technological advanced future, the essence of being human takes on a renewed significance and imperfections may regain their value. The process of creating, be it crafting tangible objects or engaging in creative endeavors becomes a focal point in our leisure pursuits. In these activities that we connect with the distinctive elements that make us human. The rethinking of the human aspect in our hobbies and free time influence the design of future homes.
As people rethink what they buy and how they spend their time, space for hobbies will become more important. Space to switch off, disconnect and explore crafts, reading, writing or doing nothing without distractions.
The Tailor armchair and desk by Sunriu Design
Belfield Townhomes, pre-fabricated townhouses with porches for community engagement in Philadelphia, US
The role of colour
From an evolutionary perspective, humans have developed in close association with the natural environment, and this intrinsic connection influences how we respond to sensory stimuli, including colour. Exposure to natural elements and colours has been shown to enhance mood, improve cognitive function, and reduce feelings of confinement and stress. This connection with nature, facilitated through colour, taps into our evolutionary roots, offering a sense of belonging and comfort that is deeply embedded in our psyche.
Colour is the link between the natural and the technological world and has the power to make it feel as one. Colour not only enhances our perception of the world but also underscores the interconnectedness of all things, making the coexistence of nature and technology visually and emotionally integrated.
“The colours of nature are a beautiful reminder that we are all connected to something much bigger than ourselves.”
OvN-72010
Mineral
Mineral is the colour of undyed raw materials, it instills a sense of balance, calm and contact with nature and the process of growing and making materials.
You can download the PDF of the report here
OvN-65008
Transition
Transition embodies sensitivity towards nature, each other, and our inner feelings, promoting wellbeing through its nuanced hue that encourages a more empathetic view of the world around us.
Chandan Negi
OvN-43010
Spruce
The future home embraces shades of green, symbolizing a connection to nature and technology, infusing spaces with a sense of growth and vitality.
OvN-76002
Grain
The Grain colour reflects a profound sense of groundedness and attachment to the planet, its earthy tone symbolizing stability and our deep-rooted connection with the natural world.