Dutch Design Week 2023 Daily Recap: Fashioning the future of home

The Netherlands - The Design Academy Eindhoven’s class of 2023 set their graduation show up in the Heuvel shopping centre in Eindhoven to enhance interaction with the public through demonstrations, performances and games. Renowned for their topical explorations and critical discussions, the graduates addressed everything from digital identity, mental wellbeing, systemic design, community care and the wealth gap.

The home was at the centre of several design projects exhibited. In Helter Shelter: Connected Dwelling Prototypes, Sophie Conroy questions if our experience of home can be fluid. She chose to be houseless in Eindhoven for six months, meeting her shelter needs by building temporary homes or nests. Post-experience, she presented a patchworked blanket and a series of books demonstrating how a connection to community, nature and herself provided her with a sense of home during the chaos of uncertainty.

Other projects magnified particular areas of the home. Jiayuan Pu’s Dr Bathroom reimagines the restroom beyond its primary function of fulfilling physiological needs and as a sanctuary, or ’a haven of privacy and solitude’. Kasia Rachuba explored the concept of conviviality dining, in which the eating experience is more social and mindful - a practice that American author and documentary maker Dan Buettner recognises as vital to living longer and healthier lives.

Delving further into the topic of mindful eating, Nadine Rauterberg’s Food Care therapeutic bread-making workshops demonstrate the connection between food and mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. ‘Our default emotion is often related to how we react in particular situations. But if one emotion becomes dominant, our overall health can be thrown off balance, leading to problems with our energy levels, immune system or digestive system,’ she explains.

For more on the future of the home, read the first edition of our Home States series, Residential Retail.