Think tank MINI Living and architecture publication, Dezeen, teamed up to present this design brief about the urban home of 100 years in the future. It invites people to imagine the best and worst of what is possible and to design a living space based on the maxim “big life, small footprint”.
Sky Nuclei
Dezeen x MINI Living Design Competition
2018
The Future of Nomadic Living
Fluidity, flexibility and movement. The Sky Nuclei embodies the playfulness of the naturally curious human spirit. A moving caravan that takes its cues from the bladeless drones of today, the Nucleus Model X will launch in 2118 as the first flying home. The true “smart home” of the future, the Nucleus keeps its inhabitants actively engaged in the present moment with features that encourage movement and play. From swings to climbing ropes, obesity will become a myth of the 21st century.
Boasting a circular ecosystem, this no waste model makes the most of its unique environment. Sunlight is plentiful for its solar paneled wings while a dip below the clouds allows it to collect rainwater fresh from the source to be filtered for drinking and bathing. Combining shelter and transportation, the Sky Nuclei is the future of nomadic living.
Of the 315,000 years humans have been on Earth, only 3% of that time has been spent in permanent settlements. Today, technology has sparked the digital nomad revolution disrupting urban living and the definition of home. With cumbersome contracts and limited space, entering a new city can be harrowing for the lighthearted nomad. The Sky Nuclei can simply set up camp above the city skyline. Equipped with a detachable mini transport drone, inhabitants can easily drop down to the city for the day.
Flexible Core
A flexible structure with built in 3D printing, the Nucleus expands comfortably when parked. The core of the Nucleus stores the DNA of home for each individual on board including personal belongings, memories and emotions which unpack to breathe life into the space. With closets and kitchenettes that retract into the floor and beds and tables that come down from the ceiling, the interior can be quickly transformed for different purposes. Each Nucleus is also fitted with playful extensions that can spin out to invite connection with its neighbours and form a floating community of Sky Nuclei.
Escape Pod
With concerns about climate change at an all time high, the Sky Nuclei are designed to be resilient to ground level natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. They can even provide refuge for those being evacuated from cities or aid by flying in supplies. The Nucleus can expand to 3 times its original size with walls made of graphene, a 1 atom thick material that is lightweight and flexible yet 200 times stronger than steel, to form a large durable shelter. Alternatively, this extra space can be used to throw a party or host a family get together.
Take Flight
Over time, people have inhabited caravans, houseboats, wagons, tents and yurts. The Sky Nuclei provides the freedom of nomadic living without sacrificing the comforts of a modern home while addressing the overcrowding of cities, dangers of climate change and increasingly absurd baggage restrictions. With increasing life spans and cyborg technology, 2118 is just around the corner. Reserve your Nucleus Model X today to insure you are not left aground when the Sky Nuclei take flight.
Process
I worked on this submission with a colleague from the MA Innovation Management program at Central Saint Martins. Through hours of conversation, hasty notes and ambiguous sketches, we explored the following questions before making any design decisions.
What does “home” mean to different people across cultures and locations? What are the similarities and differences?
How is the future of home portrayed by media and movies?
What might threaten a home in the past, present and future and how can we survive?
What present innovations can aid in solving the problems and threats homes face today?
What social and political systems might be in place in 100 years?
While homes might take on many different sizes, shapes and materials, we distilled home down to two essential components. A physical space that offers a shelter in which to eat, sleep, and socialise and an emotional space that offers a sense of safety and freedom of self expression (as an individual and/or group).
We discussed the depiction of home in futuristic films such as Ex Machina and Blade Runner 2045 and concluded that while the homes may have changed with technology - the addition of AI presence or more “smart” devices - the essentials remain the same.
Reviewing the natural and man-made disasters that could threaten cities over the next hundred years. These are predictions based on the current discussions around climate change and an increasing global trend towards nationalism.
Based on these threats, we imagined ways to survive them. Among other ideas, we came up with an indestructible, compact “survival capsule” and taking flight as many of the threats are ground (or at least lower atmosphere) based.
We also discussed potential social and political structures that might be present in 100 years. As corporations such as Apple, Google, and Facebook amass power and wealth, is it possible that they might one day run entire cities? What are the benefits and consequences of this scenario?
Returning to the idea of home, we came up with the idea of a '“nucleus”. In an ever changing landscape where we may be threatened by natural disasters or terrorism and where our homes might become a service provided by a corporation, how can we carry the essence of our homes with us? Perhaps we can condense “home” into a small container that, like an USB, can be plugged into and accessed in a variety of living spaces. There is already a growing population of “digital” nomads whose lives are essentially uploaded into a cloud space - connections are maintained via smart phone communication apps, work is done remotely and sent over email.
We expanded upon this idea by considering what innovations today might be utilised to shape this concept. We discussed bladeless drones as forms of transportation and 3D printing as a way to make homes portable. Graphene, a one atom thick material that is 200 times the strength of steel, could change the construction landscape. We took these current innovations and stretched them a little with our imaginations to come up with what might be possible in 100 years time. With this, the Sky Nuclei was born.
Thank you for sharing in the journey of the Sky Nuclei. We are proud to say that we were shortlisted as one of the top 15 designs out of over 400 competition entries.