The future of our homes
Earlier this year a forward thinking Japanese Graphic Designer called Kenya Hara organised House Vision 2013, an exhibition in Tokyo. His concept for the show was ‘The future of the Japanese House’.
He thought that with all the technological developments, many led by Japanese engineers, the home of the future could consider the amalgamation or ‘intelligent’ use of ‘energy, transportation, communication, household appliances’ while sticking to Japanese traditions, aesthetics and health.
Hara recognised that most of the technology for this already exists though it may need tweaking a little for his concept.
Health control
He suggests that with the tradition of taking off your shoes as you enter a Japanese house, physical data could be taken. Things like pulse rate and blood pressure, even temperature and of course your weight. If you’re wondering how, Hara says technology could measure these things through the carpet. The data could be sent direct to the local hospital or doctors all with health control and preventions in mind. Similar measurements could be taken by an ‘intelligent bed’.
A green bathroom
Alongside these concepts, the vision for the bath or washroom was very green and natural. Planted green walls and floors were the order of the day. French botanist Patrick Blanc brought green living walls to the fore, planting them on the outside of tall buildings in the streets of Paris. Now you can find them everywhere, inside and out.
The House Vision green walls surround the room with the wash basin and toilet protruding from the wall but the cistern hidden behind the planting – or the wall itself. This washroom for this exhibition was created by botanical expert Makoto Azuma. The walls and floor are covered in lush planting. The planted floor is below a glass floor so that you can see the planting but you aren’t actually walking amongst the plants.
Why does this fit with the House Vision concept?
First of all being surrounded by greenery is great for our health on several levels. Plants clean the air of any impurities and use them for food for themselves or the microbes that live in their roots. Clean air is obviously much better for us and the indoor air can be ten times more polluted than the air outdoors*. As the plants clean the air by absorbing toxins including CO2, they also refresh the air by emitting Oxygen.
In recent years it’s also been recognised that we have a need to ‘connect with nature’. This need has been named as Biophilia and was brought to our notice by Richard Louv who wrote ‘Last Child in the Woods’. Plants also help to keep our pulse rates and blood pressures lower – two of the physical signs of stress. And of course green, living walls help to insulate the walls and absorb noise.
The flushed toilet water becomes ‘grey water’ so not pure enough to drink but perfect for irrigating the plants! A nice recycling touch there.
Great foresight from these Japanese designers.
*Environmental Protection Agency