We spend a significant portion of our lives in our homes and workplaces. This got me to thinking about space and environment as a canvas for merging the concepts of creativity, community, efficiency, and the opportunity to embedded truly “Smart ” features.
When we hear the term “Smart Home” we tend to imagine a living space which is filled with devices to control the lights, music, temperate, and so on. However, when I consider a smart ‘space’, I picture a scene in which the core design is more humanistic, complimenting aspects of our daily lives. There is great impact in the smallest things, like a bag hook near the front door for groceries or a purse to hang momentarily as you reach for keys or a phone. On a larger more connected level; Consider a space that incorporate real-time data to understand how often a room or area is being used. Imagine using such data to throttle/redistribute heat or A/C to a space that sees more traffic than another. While these solutions can be as simple as the installation of a hook from your local hardware store, to a complex arrangement of computer systems, this technology comes at a very small cost in comparison to wasted energy.
When we discuss the topic of ‘smart living’ and merging concepts of a well-functioning community space, I am reminded of The River Building, a community space designed by the world famous SANAA. Together, the creative talents of Pritzker Prize winning architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa and their staff of 25 out of Tokyo, Japan have created some of the most stunning architectural marvels incorporating this philosophy. In the words of the Pritzker jury, “The buildings by Sejima and Nishizawa seem deceptively simple. The architects hold a vision of a building as a seamless whole, where the physical presence retreats and forms a sensuous background for people, objects, activities, and landscapes.”
Their fluid integration of both internal and external space produces environments which are rich in social and spiritual potential. The River building was constructed on a sliver of the 80-acre Grace Farms property in New Canaan, CT.