The house project House Wide Shut by Grupa Plus Architects was awarded in the Design Concept 2020 category of the international Red Dot Design Award competition. The concept was recognized for its use of modern technology and innovative combination of physical and virtual reality.
Awarded since 1955 by the German Design Zentrum, the Red Dot Design Award is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in industrial design and is often called the "Oscar of design." In this year's edition, the jury awarded prizes to outstanding projects from among more than 4,000 entries. Among them is the Houe Wide Shut concept design by Polish architects Grupa Plus Architects, which received the award in the Design Concept 2020 category.
House walls can change the degree of transparency
© Grupa Plus Architekci
House Wide Shut
The aim of the Red Dotcompetition is to promote design that combines excellent aesthetics with high functionality and innovative solutions. The award-winning house design by the Grupa Plus Architekci studio, whose founder is Tomasz Wuczynski, is in line with these assumptions.
Dom Szeroko Zamknięty is an unusual project that crosses both physical and imaginary boundaries. The architects proposed to use augmented reality - Augmented Reality, in a sense replacing traditional building materials such as brick with it. Instead, the huge glazed walls used can change the degree of translucency from completely transparent glass to opaque walls, providing an almost unlimited spectrum of additional and previously unknown possibilities.
Information can be displayed on the interactive walls
© Grupa Plus Architekci
As Tomasz Wuczynski explains:
This is due to the structure of the house, which consists of three layers of glass. The outer cover has been treated traditionally - its function is to protect against wind chill. The use of AR glass, on the other hand, allows the view to be obscured, but this does not mean being cut off from the outside world, as between it and the actual facade of the house there is an open space where one can walk freely.
AR technology and architecture
The façade proper is formed by a glass middle layer and interior interactive partitions with the option of frosting or displaying any information on demand. The three-layer shell thus influences both the appearance of the house and the interaction between the interior and exterior. All this makes the house function in accordance with the rhythm of its inhabitants' lives. It allows the view of the surrounding nature to be exposed, or it provides privacy by completely matting the walls. Depending on the time of day, activity and mood, users themselves choose which walls they want to cover completely or partially, based on the principle of drop-down blinds. In addition, they can serve as a screen on which to display a movie.
Occupants influence the appearance of the house walls
© Grupa Plus Architekci
If residents desire, for example, to relax, they can project a view of their choice on the wall, such as the sea or the forest. This is a whole new level of design, where users can take advantage of the capabilities of the building's multilayered exterior to have control not only over the weather or time of day, but also over their location. The house also monitors the location of its occupants, obscuring them when necessary with minimal restriction of view. This is done seamlessly, and updates as the position of people inside and outside the house changes.
