The time for change is here

Over recent months, we have rediscovered our living space. In her trend report for Hawa's Slide magazine, futurist Oona Horx-Strathern explores, among other things, what will happen when private space and office merge and what the home and the city of the future might look like.

The pandemic has accelerated many trends in recent months. We are in what can be called a "plastic hour." These are those crucial moments when it is possible to act, those times when everything can change because history is in a volatile state. These plastic hours are rare. They require the right constellation of public opinion and political power relationships—and above all a crisis, such as a pandemic.

The Home Rediscovered
The experience of the last few months has ushered in a new era for the home after it had retreated into the background somehow in recent years, with so many of us being on the move much of the time. Now, our own four walls have regained their status as the center of our lives, according to Oona Horx-Strathern. All of a sudden, we have the need to express our personality through our home and this new perspective will no doubt change what we want from interior design, furnishings and objects.

The Experience Working from Home
We use our home in a different way now compared to two years ago. It is doubling up as an office. Working from home has provided many people with extra time while challenging household arrangements. Who is allowed the best place near the router? Where is there a space to retreat to, and who is doing the cooking today? Studies show that the home office will continue to play an important role in the future. And this will have implications for our living spaces.

Hello Neighborhood
In the future, this new connectivity with our immediate vicinity could shape neighborhoods and cities as well as the home. During the lockdown, many of us have experienced our neighborhood afresh and our urban landscape as quieter, calmer, friendlier, and with cleaner air. This experience has given us a glimpse as to what the new normal might look like, and enables us to plan for the resilient city of the future.