Ikea opens “house of tomorrow” in Szczecin to showcase future living
Ikea has created the world’s first ‘House of Tomorrow’ in order to promote sustainability in urban environments and an eco-friendly lifestyle that limits the amount of waste produced by households.
The house, located in the northern city of Szczecin, aims to prove that humans can co-exist with nature, and allows visitors to discover a variety of eco-friendly solutions that they can introduce into their own homes.
The house even shows people how to grow mushrooms.
Around 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, according to recent research by Ikea. As a consequence humans need to take measures to combat climate change and global warming. The Swedish retail giant stresses that this involves major changes to nearly all our present habits, starting with how we behave at home.
“We created the “House of Tomorrow’ to inspire changes and to form new habits - ones which have a positive effect on our planet,” Ikea said in a press statement. “All of this to ensure that the next generation can live a better future, a future that ought to be green!”
Located in a 120-year-old tenement building, the house was renovated using 100-percent ecological and recycled materials.
Despite not being the largest or the most developed city in the world, Szczecin has a requisite set of qualities making it the ideal location for a project of this type. Not only is it the “greenest” city in Poland, but it is also one whose citizens hold the proximity to nature very dearly.
Located in a 120-year-old tenement building, the house was renovated using 100-percent ecological and recycled materials. The designers of the house are also looking to employ sophisticated solutions that utilise as much household waste as possible, in turn, bringing the ecological footprint down to the bare minimum.
Each room in the house has a distinct purpose.
The house’s main “attraction” is an urban farm. Using water-efficient, cutting-edge irrigation methods, such as aeroponics or aquaponics, the soilless farm can use up to 95 percent less water than traditional house gardens and even utilises old plastic bottles.
Being extremely efficient and adaptable, the urban farming system makes it possible to grow tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, strawberries, herbs and even some microgreens and edible fungi making the garden ideal for supporting a vegetarian diet.
“Creating a similar farm at home could provide as much as one half of the recommended daily calorie and energy intake,” said one of the project’s creators, Paulina Grabowska.
The designers of the house are looking to employ sophisticated solutions that utilise as much household waste as possible.
Each room in the house has a distinct purpose. The ‘Creative Room’ is fully dedicated to modifying and upgrading old furniture, giving it a new lease of life. Another one, dubbed the ‘Planning Room’, is dedicated to helping visitors create sustainable, eco-friendly dishes that limit the amount of waste produced. People can also learn how to prepare vegetarian dishes and make the most of the urban gardens.
Nothing is wasted in the ‘House of Tomorrow’ and even something seemingly useless as coffee grounds can be used to grow edible fungi species. Furthermore, located in the kitchen are large containers used as composters, which turn organic waste into rich, ecological fertilizer.
The designers also took wellbeing into account. Their light therapy installation, called ‘home Sun’ imitates daylight and is constructed to improve one’s mood and allow relaxation.
