A Vision of the 'Apartment of the Future' From Poland

Predicting the future tends to be a thankless enterprise, but architect Bartosz Haduch was willing to give it a shot. His firm, NArchitekTURA, eagerly accepted an invitation to participate in a competition to design the "apartment of the future" in Dobrodzień, Poland, where his firm is based.

The space that NArchitekTURA calls the "Apartment of the Future—R&D Laboratory" is the product of more than two years of work. The idea, Haduch says, was "to create an open space, responding to changes in technology, furniture, and the diverse needs and behaviors of users."

The apartment, which occupies a space in the Dobrodzień Interior Design Park Dobroteka, has an open plan and a monochromatic white interior, a nod to the simple design of contemporary cellphones and other mobile devices. The space is designed to be versatile, with working and sleeping surfaces that can be rolled out from cabinets.

A defining feature is a nearly 50-foot "green wall," composed of movable panels that, when closed, presents a panoramic image of a natural landscape. The panels slide from side to side to create different zones within the space, allowing for a variety of arrangements.

Haduch says the apartment was designed to function as a living space, showroom, hotel room, and art gallery. It was also conceived as a laboratory; NArchitekTURA has invited companies to test new products and innovations there, and academic institutions will be encouraged to use the space to conduct research into the development of residential spaces and any residual effects in the areas of behaviorism, sociology, ergonomics, and ecology.