DRUMMOND: It also raises an interesting point: How far are we willing to go to feel secure? How much of our privacy, or our family’s privacy, are we willing to potentially compromise?
ASTLEY: Some people are opting out completely! I loved Jill Kargman’s humorous piece on the analog home—she is so sharp and funny about the backlash to smart everything. I hear it too when I speak to designers, whose clients are now asking for low-tech solutions like working landline phones. We’ve rounded up 10 design talents to share their forecasts on future trends, and they also predict homes becoming calmer, with nooks for homeowners to disconnect. Designers increasingly see themselves as the ones who can bring the human touch back to interiors. Call it a new role for the profession! Maybe the ultimate luxury is less technology instead of more.
DRUMMOND: Luxury is also increasingly out of many people’s reach. This is what we heard when we surveyed readers around the world about what “home” means to them now. There wasn’t one answer, but there was a common theme: People want homes they can afford. For years, the future of home was the smarter, the better. Now, WIRED readers are more concerned with homes that work with their budgets and feel safe from the impacts of climate change. Even our Gear team, who spend their days reviewing the newest and coolest gadgets, when asked for home tech suggestions, came back with a collection of practical lamps.
ASTLEY: Yes, we also saw affordability come up in Jackie Cooperman’s reporting on what the starter-home dream looks like today. It’s hard to talk about the future when a house feels out of reach for so many.
DRUMMOND: All of which speaks to why AD and WIRED wanted to collaborate on this special issue. Our teams have very specific, informed perspectives on the current moment. We know that even though there’s a lot of hype around automation and optimization, the best homes in the future might be the most adaptable ones. Or, as Katie Thornton illustrates in her piece on parametric insurance, homes in communities that are prepared for the worst.
ASTLEY: Right! Creating spaces that work for our modern lives. No matter what happens next.