Taking input from 2015's most innovative designers, Fast Company Design has complied a fascinating list of 25 ideas that will shape the future of design. From this list, we have extracted the five most relevant points for architects to consider. Read through them after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
THE INTERNET OF THINGS WILL LEAD TO THE INTERNET OF SPACES
The Internet of Things usually refers to technologies like Nest and Fitbit, but one does not make something "smarter" simply by placing a circuit board in it and connecting it to a network. There will also be vast ramifications for the way we design products and spaces. The converging requirements of aging baby boomers and technology-embracing millennials will lead designers to focus on where product design and architecture intersect and inform one another to create better outcomes. — James R. Wisniewski, Senior Associate - Architecture, Michael Graves Architecture & Design
DESIGN WILL DESTIGMATIZE AGING
Traditionally, houses have been designed for young, able-bodied adults, but not so well for people who are disabled, chronically ill, or simply aging. As baby boomers age and care for their parents, they and their children are recognizing the need for homes that are designed to support all stages of an individual’s life. In the next five years, designers will use design as a tool to destigmatize aging. — Patrick Burke, Principal - Architecture, Michael Graves Architecture & Design
OFFICES WILL BECOME OUR CATHEDRALS AND RECORDING STUDIOS
Work has become like singing, you can do it anywhere now. That's why offices will need to become more like cathedrals and recording studios. Cathedrals because singing in that setting (atmosphere, reverb, etc.) alters the character of even a single human voice and inspires a greater performance. Recording studios because they are specifically designed to help create and capture the highest-quality experience of singing—capture that and reproduce it. When we can work anywhere, people should want to come to an office because it gives them a heightened experience of work that can be had nowhere else. — Ben Watson, Executive Creative Director, Herman Miller
GREATER EMPATHY IN DESIGN
A deeper empathetic understanding of how people experience a space or product will become more important. With an aging population, people may need an item to help them, but not necessarily want it... for example, an alert bracelet, or something that protects their safety. No one wants to be reminded they are aging, and the design of both products and buildings must respect the emotions of this audience, as well as meet their needs. — Donald Strum, Principal - Product Design, Michael Graves Architecture & Design
4-D DESIGN TOOLS AND BEYOND
There will be new kinds of design tools to help designers in tech craft effective experiences for consumers that go beyond "beautiful" pixels. Most of the tools we use today are rooted in conventional two-dimensional, static media, as they all grew up during the "desktop publishing" revolution of the '80s and '90s. We will see more "hybrid" tools that cross code with design, like Koen Bok's Framer.js, Ben Fry and Casey Reas's Processing, and Evelyn Eastmond's DesignBlocks. — John Maeda, Design Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Read FastCo Design's complete list of "25 Ideas Shaping the Future of Design," here.
