Francesco Librizzi, architect and Siemens brand ambassador, talks about the changes in housing needs between 2020 and 2021. The pandemic has in fact changed the perception of the home and its spaces. “As a designer – says Librizzi – it seemed essential to me to focus on the impact of these changes, through an analysis of how new working and living habits have also affected the contemporary housing trends. What are the consumers looking for today from their home? Surely an increasingly integrated, unified and highly performing environment, where the living area becomes the heart of the daily activities. The whole world of design is wondering how to redesign the living space and reach new horizons: the result of these reflections is also the Prototype The Future project organized by Siemens – a brand that has always been attentive to the development of innovative and cutting-edge technologies – and of which I became the spokesperson, involving the NABA students in the development of a prototype capable of combining the needs dictated by the revolution underway for the interior design with the vision of the German household appliance brand”. In light of this new scenario, according to Librizzi, there are three fundamental themes on which to dwell. The first theme is integration. “In the new normal – explains Librizzi – the time spent at home is greater and the quality of the spaces we live in is strictly dependent on how they are lived: in this sense, furnishings and appliances must enter the spaces, allowing a great freedom of movement and modularity, two aspects that are more than ever primary. Especially for the living area, which opens up to the kitchen, people are looking for appliances that are able to fit into the space until they almost disappear visually, in a sort of transparent and discreet integration, to reappear only when used and doing it in a distinctive manner, giving character to the room through high quality refined materials and exceptional technological performance”. The second theme is mono-materiality and seamless design. “The search for integration in the domestic environments is not only visual but also of matter – adds Librizzi -. For the interiors of the contemporary homes, the materials must be similar to each other, giving the impression of general uniformity: this is why pure and essential materials (such as glass and steel) are increasingly chosen. In these open space environments, even the volumes and thicknesses are reduced towards a complete optimization of the solutions, in which furnishings and appliances become one both in the materials and in the installations, which are increasingly flush and designed for an effect of total coplanarity. Therefore, the appliance does not require to the environment and the furniture to adapt to it but, on the contrary, aims at greater compatibility even in the installation phases”. The third theme is connectivity. “With a view to simplifying the processes, this need for maximum flexibility also translates into the ability to manage your home even when you are not physically inside it and with a variety of control systems never seen before”, concludes Librizzi.
