Copenhagen Design Lab Space10 Imagines The Modular And Accessible Home Of The Future

From townhouses to high rises, single-person or multi-generational homes, The Urban Village Project by Danish design agency Space10, Copenhagen-based Effekt Architects and Ikea is a modular building system that can be prefabricated and mass-produced, where practically all components and materials can be disassembled and replaced, reused and recycled over the building’s lifespan, thereby minimizing waste. People would be able to add to and alter their home as they desire. Water harvesting, clean energy generation, recycling, local food production and localized composting will be integrated, along with the idea of pooled resources, where rather than every household having to buy the same items – like a drill – one piece of equipment could be shared between them to lower living costs and show care for the environment. A lower entry point into the housing market would stem from rethinking the way homes are designed and financed, introducing new subscription-based models and offering the opportunity to earn equity in where they live. Space10’s Guillaume Charny-Brunet, Development Director, and Jack Crocker, Building Systems Specialist, share with me their vision for The Urban Village Project.

You developed The Urban Village Project to be adaptable to any city in the world, at any building scale. How do you envision The Urban Village Project concept being applied in Asia? How would the buildings there be distinct from those built in the West?

I don’t think we have any preconceived notions about regional application of the Urban Village model, but that’s part of what’s so exciting about it. The Urban Village is a toolkit, and a set of building blocks lends itself to creativity. In some parts of Asia, there is a really strong history of building with wood, whereas in others, wood is seen as a cheap, temporary material. Seeing how different design cultures approach using The Urban Village toolkit is something that we’re really interested in and will also inform us as we continue to develop it.

Is it possible to retrofit existing buildings with The Urban Village Project’s systems/technologies?

This is relatively uncharted territory for the Urban Village, but it’s definitely possible from a technical perspective. As is unfortunately true of most retrofit projects, the cost of preparing or stabilizing existing structures can often make projects too expensive.

Do you anticipate entire cities filled with The Urban Village Project homes being built across the globe? Do you believe that The Urban Village Project can serve as a model for sustainable practices for other residential buildings around the world, impact policy and change industry standards?

I think the homogeneous application of any one building type (no matter how beautiful) is a recipe for disaster! Urban environments thrive on diversity and the ingredients for a thriving city far exceed the parameters of the Urban Village. The problems that we all face as cities swell and housing becomes less accessible really need multiple approaches and solutions from multiple angles. In that spirit though, we think that Urban Village projects can be a really vital building block within cities, both as a demonstration of what’s possible and as a platform for the best ideas in housing technology to be tested.

Space10 doesn’t believe design thinking can occur in a vacuum. What new ideas, perspectives and solutions about how design and emerging technologies can create a better everyday life for people and the planet did you pick up from your experiences and collaborations in Asia? What did you learn from the local communities?

In November 2019, we opened our first six-month satellite office in Delhi, India. Our mission was to gain new knowledge and diversify our perspectives by gathering designers, technologists, artists, architects, academics and entrepreneurs under one roof to explore how design and emerging technologies can create a better everyday life for people and the planet. For example, exhibiting SolarVille – our Playful Research prototype of a miniature neighborhood powered by solar energy – enabled us to initiate a conversation with the community around tomorrow’s clean energy systems. Space10 Delhi ignited ideas, perspectives and solutions that wouldn’t have been possible anywhere else. As an outcome, we initiated our Home Essentials project, with which we aim to research and design affordable, accessible and sustainable solutions for low-income households with a focus on emerging economies – all part of our mission to create a better everyday life for people and the planet.