We have asked ourselves this question and have begun imagining the future.
The emergency of the last few months could not exempt us from some reflections that inevitably also affect our way of experiencing home. As entrance specialists, we tried to imagine how this architectural element may be interpreted to give us further ideas on the development of the access space to our homes.
If, indeed, we consider the period affected by COVID19 as a moment of deep uncertainty, in which we feel the end of an era and, on the other hand, we witness a number of transformations affecting the way we work, digitization, as well as the dematerialization of social relations, home has taken on a central role in our lives.
We have experienced our homes as safe havens and places where we could restore our relations with our fellow humans and with our families, we have taken back what belongs to us and we have turned our home context into an enlarged life space, which has become the place where we work and study.
Thereby home has become increasingly important, also from an aesthetic point of view, we realized the significance of harmony and of feeling well within our dwelling space, including on our terraces and in our gardens, which played a crucial role at this moment in time.
This sends us a clear message: the design of interiors and their enjoyment will be redefined in the projects of the near future.
Under these circumstances the entrance, meant as space, may see its filtering function polarized, a function needed to smooth the transition between two worlds – interiors and exteriors – which are now increasingly apart.
This may translate into the choice of finishes, but also – and in particular – into the design of entrance halls: they will increasingly bring light or even the surrounding nature into our homes. Perhaps it will become a small semi-private square in which we can enjoy our social interactions in a controlled and safe way, only with the people we like, without necessarily letting them into our homes.
Within it, the door may instead turn into some kind of medieval drawbridge: a clear dividing line between the real and the virtual, safety from danger, knights from dragons. After all, what era was more uncertain than the Middle Ages?
The security issue, so popular in the early 2000s, would become central again. A security encumbered with new meanings: the entrance door would become an increasingly complex element, with multiple technological devices that can identify what lies outside, beyond the threshold, and allow it entrance to the house (thermal scanners, iris scanners, devices that manage home deliveries automatically, etc.).
The future, all-round, projects may come up with contemporary, smart solutions for increasingly complex and customized needs that result from a more mature awareness in terms of enjoyment of the living spaces that are dear to us.
