MIT MEDIA LAB & HARVARD GSD
Home 2050Forecasting future modes of living
Home 2050 is a speculative design project that envisions the future of domestic living by reinterpreting the traditional IKEA catalog as a platform for architectural innovation. By projecting into the year 2050, the project explores how emerging technologies, shifting cultural norms, and environmental considerations might transform the concept of home.
IKEA 2050
Home 2050 is a speculative design project that envisions the future of domestic living by reinterpreting the traditional IKEA catalog as a platform for architectural innovation. By projecting into the year 2050, the project explores how emerging technologies, shifting cultural norms, and environmental considerations might transform the concept of home. The catalog format allows for a comprehensive exploration of future living scenarios, including: 
Responsive Environments: Spaces that adapt in real-time to occupants’ needs and environmental conditions.
Modular Living: Reconfigurable layouts that support diverse activities and life stages. 
Integrated Technologies: Seamless incorporation of AI, AR, and IoT devices to enhance daily life.
Sustainable Materials: Use of eco-friendly and regenerative materials to promote environmental stewardship.
By leveraging the familiar structure of an IKEA catalog, Home 2050 makes complex ideas about the future of living accessible and engaging, prompting readers to consider how design can shape better futures.
MIT Media Lab "Science Fiction Fabrication" - Professors: Joe Paradiso, Joost Bonsen and Dan Novy
Prep-it: The future of grocery
Each year in the US, we waste 40% of all the food we cultivate. Currently, the most expressed solutions for this problem are composting and reselling, but these don't work because people don't like the stigma of used food. Since food is ingested, it can make us sick, which is where our caution stems from. So instead of solving the problem at the end, why not start at the beginning? Say hello to Prep'it
Harvard Graduate School of Design "Alimentary Design" - Professors: Shohei Shigematsu and Christy Cheng
The Casual Kitchen: Smart surfaces & robotics
The "Casual Kitchen" is a project born out of the curiosity to rethink the future of the kitchen space, and innovations in appliance interfaces by using smart surfaces and robotics. Cooking and dining spaces will become more casual in nature; stemming from the innovations in delivery services, meal kits, and grocery services. We won't need the burden of excessive industrial appliances, but instead, multi-functional, temperature regulated surfaces where cooling can occur right next to heating and storage. Food can be stored contextually, and there can be a seamless transition between storing, cooking, warming and cooling, as curated by new kitchen surfaces.
Team: City Science Group - MIT Media Lab
