Virtual contemplation space created during the lockdown
It was meant to be the home of the future: a concept home combining technology and quality of life, a place where one could live well.
And yet, this house is now part of the past. I designed it during the pandemic, shortly before the death of my partner during a tragic accident. It is a virtual and magnified trace of our confined life.
Why did I want to imagine this technological future instead of living in the present moment? Why did I represent an average couple instead of representing us, as we are?
A year later (November 2023), I visited back the concept home, and I decided to make it a virtual space for contemplation: a place of meditation open to all, and a reminder – even more so than in the original concept – that technology is in the service of living together.
Its architecture is inspired by the luxury house videos my partner and I used to watch on YouTube, by our last trip to the Cyclades, and the early design projects that were emerging from AI and virtual reality at the time.
To imagine the future is to try to make up for the time lost.
I lived in Paris, he lived in London. The lockdown and remote work gave us the opportunity to live together.
I reconsidered my digital nomad habits and learned to feel at home, to live with him in this home of the future.
I was designing my artistic projects on my computer screen, while he was creating his YouTube videos in our bedroom.
During the lockdown, his apartment became a workplace, a gym, and a production studio all in one.
How good it was to live each moment as if it were eternity.
My work was in virtual reality. Everything seemed possible.
I bought a virtual reality headset, and he was fascinated. Everything will be simpler with new technologies. A few hours a day in virtual reality would be enough to make a living and spend the rest of the time together.
I was finalising the posters for my digital art project Sauna and Solar. He liked it a lot, like everything I did.
I wish future technologies could allow us to live longer like this, instead of just keeping our memories.
