LIFESTYLE
Architect Saket Sethi believes in futurist designs that creates seamless spaces blurring the lines between wall, floor, ceiling and even furniture
A modern Indian home is an expression of someone who is a global citizen and is rooted in Indian tradition
Want a home with a cutting edge style that is high on technology? Go for a futurist home which is characterised by uniqueness in material choices, joinery, functionality with a spin on aesthetics and technology. Design pro Saket Sethi, founder of Archilogics advises on how to get the style right.
Majority of people delve into the past and go for opulence of the yore or blend it with the present times. What drives you to peep into the future and create the next generation of style?
The future equals excitement. The future is all about the ‘new’ and uncharted— it is about the idea of renewal, enhanced efficiency and happiness. Like with the allied disciplines of product, fashion, film, architecture and culture — style is always about the next big thing. Why would the aspiration of home interiors be any different? The ethos of style is to engage and excite human living— and whether it comes from the past or present, the next generation of style is always chronological to the future. The future (and its single biggest influence) can be summed into a single word —‘Hope’. The most common need of humanity is to hope, and the selfish hope of a designer is his own greatest driver. We need to be renewed by a sense of beauty, purpose and efficiency to a repetitive and ephemeral goal —‘—Happiness’. People will bbe shaped in the future by their living spaces and ththey will
rre-shape their environments right back. A cycle of imagination makes the next generation of products. Futurism is a knock-knock term I’ve appropriated, to enable a layman to identify the next generation of design. Strictly speaking ‘Futurism’ sprang out of the Avant Garde movement of the 1900s with creative manifestos ranging from the Italians like Antonio Sant’Elia, to the Russians like Malevich — all were bound by a new love of the future, but by eschewing the past. For me, design looking forward from now, can be loosely referred to as Avant-Garde Neo-futurism (AGNF) - and simply put, it is a different way of thinking about how we will live better in the future. AGNF living for me, is the demonstration of hope in space. AGNF design would exist on a slider scale, given the personality type, requirements and aspirations of the end user. The design language could be incredibly techy at one end or just highlight a single piece that speaks to the future. Our tomorrow is really about technology, whether one likes it or not. So my belief is that AGNF design will integrate technology one way or the other. In fact, if you see closely, today’s furniture and environments are already very technologically heavy. Technology is the new craft; so putting together the older craft with the new is the newest way to have AGNF design goals. Today’s furniture uses laser cutting work, to get sometimes incredibly classic pieces of furniture with the same ease as the most cutting edge design styles. So technology is already deeply entrenched in design style. Technology will also dominate the processes creating interior looks (aside from production) to the point of allowing on-the-fly-robotic customisationtiti withith unprecendented design control in the hands of the end user. It will also question the relevance of even having a designer in the design process.
3D printing, nano-tech,th smartt materialst il and multiple-axis robots are already weaving the next generation of products – demolishing preconceived notions of how furniture and its design processes are framed.fr Having said all of that,th I remain a technophile rootedro in the love of historical designde in equal measure.
HowH does a layperson get the stylest right in creating look of the futurefu home?
AllA a layperson needs to know is what he loves, what he likes andan what he hates. In the designde journey of creating it, educationed and instinct are the greatestgr tools in getting it right.ri A look that brings the futurefu home ideates a concept justju by asking a few questions. WhatW is it about the “future” thatth one would like to see? Is it the gadgety kind that smartenssm your home, brings in a few designer pieces or justju completely makes over a look.lo A smart home can integratein in any style and createcr a sensation of future livingli in its automation - unlocking doors, managing lights and mood settings, automating appliances - bringing up jetsonian visions that will be common place within the decade.