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Sir Terrence Conran
‘I have genuinely lost count of the number of recessions I have lived and worked through in my adult life. Eight? Maybe nine? Times of austerity are perfect for being bold and brave. When we created Habitat, Britain was in the grip of the three-day week and the whole country felt washed with a damp, sluggish grey. So we decided to be colourful, to cheer up people’s homes. It was an immediate success.'
Tom Dixon - Multidisciplinary Designer and Retailer
‘The world could do with experiencing a more co-operative and more humble existence for a while – in general, people are going to look for things with more honesty and value. The idea of being dependent on the people in your neighbourhood is actually quite a good thing.’
Yousef Mansuri - Head of Retail Design, CP Hart
‘I think people are going to want their own private spaces to create a sense of sanctuary. It might be something as simple as turning a shower into a steam enclosure, so you don’t have to go to the gym or a spa for that experience.’
Piero Lissoni - Architect and designer
‘I don’t like this idea that we need to find new ways of staying at home, living virtually and ordering everything from Amazon. Instead, I want us to return to normal life, but to be more conscientious as consumers. Design is not fashion – we shouldn’t buy a new sofa every year, like we would a new pair of shoes, just because we can afford it.’
Richard Parr - Architect
‘I can see how the trend for open-plan living now no longer works, especially when people are working from home. Architecture won’t become about compartmentalising the home into lots of little spaces, but making spaces work properly according to need – whether as a family, a couple or on your own. Do you really want to be working in the same space as the washing machine?
Sam Bompas - co-founder of Bompas & Parr, Multi-sensory Experience and Forecasting Experts
‘This time has given people a licence to do stuff that’s imperfect, but is joyful and heartfelt and meaningful. You don’t need to be an expert to do something magnificent – whether it is cooking or crafting. The first time that you try, it is effortful, it is difficult, and then you do it again and it can be very, very rewarding. Our hope is that this can be the dawn of a new golden era of DIY creativity.’
India Mahdavi - Architect and Interior Designer
‘Access to culture will be limited for a while, so we’ll want to experience it at home: maybe our own movie theatre (even if it is just projecting films onto a blank wall); a gym in the bedroom; an office in the dining room.
Deyan Sudjic - Author and former Director of the Design Museum, London
‘Having to spend more time indoors has accelerated our attitudes to technology, and inspired new ways of doing things. Buying a weekly box of vegetables, salvaged by a start-up from going to waste, is now mainstream behaviour. Holding meetings via Zoom is the new norm. The use of 3D printing to make ventilators and masks, as well as models for furniture, points to a future where we think differently about ways of manufacturing.
This article originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
