The event will begin with a lecture by Daniel Barber, followed by a discussion and a guided tour of the exhibition.

How will we eat in the future? How will we do our laundry? How will we make ourselves comfortable? How will we take care of each other? With rising sea levels, increasing air temperatures, dwindling resources and new energy management systems, the future of household functioning will require radical changes in our habits and behaviour: a new approach will be needed.

What does the market offer us today? More efficient air conditioning, smart kitchen appliances or ever faster doorstep delivery services. That is, short-term convenience that replaces, rather than reduces, the work and energy needed to maintain existing lifestyles. Improving home insulation only leads to short-term energy savings. This is similar to how expanded ownership of washing machines has led to increased water consumption and more frequent washing. The culture of efficiency has failed us in this regard.

The Home Discomforts exhibition showcases the work of contemporary architects, designers and architects who present their visions of alternative ways of living, more diverse and less dependent on the modern comforts of enclosed and stably regulated interiors. For too long, the global North has developed and over-consumed at the expense of the global South. It is here, in Europe and other overdeveloped regions, that we will have to learn to live less comfortably. Could the reduction of consumption, the pooling of resources and the sharing of labour associated with the social reproduction of society offer opportunities for a future that is less comfortable but happier?

exhibitors: Ankit Kumar Singh, Daniel Parnitzke, Edit, HVAC (Lisa van Heyden & Enno Pötschke), Lacol, Superflux, TAKK

curator: Marianna Janowicz

Marianna Janowicz is a London-based architect, researcher and member of the Edit architectural collective. Her research focuses on sites of reproductive labour, both inside and outside the home, viewed through the lens of feminist and environmental science. She has previously held residencies at the Canadian Centre of Architecture (2021) and the Design Museum, London (2022-2023), where her project explored personal laundry practices in the context of contemporary housing and the indoor environment. She has written about architecture, design and society for Architectural Review, Disegno, New York Review of Architecture and e-flux Architecture, among others. He teaches at the University for the Creative Arts and the London School of Architecture. She is a PhD candidate at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.