Invisible technology, sustainable materials and ubiquitous intelligence

Material as sustainable infrastructure 

A significant part of this changing pattern relates to the materials. No longer mere supports to the form, but as design devices in their own right. Research is focused on high-performance surfaces, advanced ceramics, finishes designed to last and reduce impact over time. Within this context, the kitchen becomes a privileged field of experimentation. With its Continuous Space concept, Veneta Cucine is interpreting the domestic environment as a continuous system, in which interior and exterior interact through materials that flow seamlessly from one to the other. Ceramic allows for the creation of surfaces that extend throughout a space, turning the kitchen into a unifying element rather than a merely functional one.  

The same approach also goes for Snaidero, with marble, wood and stone-effect surfaces marking out cohesive spaces, designed to last and adapt to increasingly fluid layouts, with, sustainability translated into quality and continuity, rather than mere rhetoric. Equally, the materials themselves become increasingly noticeable. Beko’s Midnight Line features matte, anti-reflective surfaces that enhance the visual and tactile experience, reducing signs of wear and the need for maintenance. This focus on materials as technology is also evident at Kartell, which is furthering its research into innovative and sustainable materials, and in companies such as Florim and Atlas Concorde, where advanced ceramics are becoming an increasingly high-performance, durable material capable of creating continuity between architecture and furnishings. 

This is also true of the furnishing world, in which companies such as Arper and Desalto are working on advanced manufacturing processes and on optimising materials, coming up with lightweight solutions, pared back to the essential and designed to stand the test of time.  Here sustainability is not a overt factor, but chimes with constructive precision and the ability to do away with the superfluous. As with the materials, technology does not add complexity, rather it reduces wear, improving user interaction and building more coherent, durable and conscious environments. 

Rather than a collection of objects, contemporary homes take the form of systems, spaces in which materials, technology and ubiquitous intelligence coexist without hierarchies, shaping a continuous experience.  
Here, the innovation is not visible, but perceptible, it lies in the quality of the space, in the durability of the materials, the naturalness of the actions: it is discreet technology, which is precisely why it becomes more effective.