It may not be a real hotel, but MVRDV’s colourful and reconfigurable dwelling makes a bold statement about what may be the most essential ingredient for future cities to succeed: flexible living spaces.
Called (W)ego, the concept “hotel” is on display as part of Dutch Design Week, now underway in Eindhoven. Winy Maas, co-founding principal of the locally based firm MVRDV, is one of this year’s Ambassador Architects and his focus is on the future of cities, and what they might look like decades from now.
(W)ego is the result, a multi-tiered dwelling (co-created with research and education institute The Why Factory) that can be endlessly reconfigured. Nine box-like units connect via narrow ladders and doorways. The idea behind (W)ego is to create a space that can be rearranged as needed, and that embraces social connections: hence the name, which adds “we” to the word ego. While personal space will always be a human desire, the project suggests there is just as great a need for community interaction.
In the future, we won’t own as much stuff either; and our day-to-day living will be more fluid, transient and mobile, since we will be liberated from the burden of belongings. The future will be a lot more colourful, too.
(W)ego can conceivably be reconfigured endlessly. Each unit is kitted out with various bits of furniture and objects: a hammock hangs inside an electric green space, for instance, while a stack of hot pink dwellings are adjoined vertically by step ladders.
(W)ego remains on view at Markt Square, Rotterdam, until October 29, 2017.
