'the future of living' proposes exposed, open-plan structures for collective living in australia

urtzi grau & guillermo fernández-abascal have introduced ‘the future of living‘ project, exploring the collective housing domesticity type which is evidently emerging in australia. the project is an excuse for a theoretical discussion about the immediate future of living, as much as it is a prototype ready for mass production. whether in isolation or as part of a highrise, the ‘future of living‘ proposes a new kind of relationship between the user, the environment and the raw architecture for the future.

visualization by choirender

the isolation ‘future of living’ proposal is a open-plan hut with no facade, an exposed structure with many curtains and plants, furniture and rocks. a square grid of 16 CLT columns supports a wooden roof. the house barely touches the ground and is balanced by an inhabitable heated rock above — a sauna. the ground floor is connected to the surrounding environment, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. a few fixed elements — a cooking-dining module, curtains around the beds, light enclosures, a bathtub, some fancy chairs and a fireplace suspended above the wooden roof — give us an idea of how to live. everyday life becomes a continuous negotiation with the position of the sun, the views, the need for privacy, the pursuit of pleasure and the desire for a life together with the land.

the ‘future of living‘ tower is the proposal which responds to the increasing demand for urban dwellings in australia, and it preserves the qualities of the hut. each floor is an open plan and lacks a traditional facade; it contains many curtains and plants; it is full of furniture and rocks. concrete cores and diagonal cross bracing rigidise the exposed clt structure. twenty-five square telescopic columns in a square grid, wooden slabs and three concrete elevator shafts repeat on each floor. the diagonal cross-bracing and a tilted fire stair make each level unique and specific. as in the case of the hut, the assemblages populating each floor respond to the needs of everyday life. they also adapt to the conditions of the city. filtering pollution and sound, blocking winds on the top floors, ensuring comfort in periods of bad weather, their performance is scaled up according to the building size.