What is the future of the modern home going to look like? According to LG Electronics, it should be smaller, smarter, modular, and markedly more energy efficient (and of course, operated by their own ThinQ app). Such prognostication takes form in the LG Smart Cottage, a pre-fabricated residence fully stocked with the Korean brand’s line of premium appliances and high energy-efficient heating and cooling solutions.
Despite the decor and lifestyle associations attached to the word “cottage,” the LG interpretation more closely resembles other contemporary pre-fabricated structure rather than any countryside abode. LG did make efforts to give their hi-tech small home some invitingly homey details, using touches of warm hardwood, tile, and fabric finishes throughout to project the brand’s “gentle, stable, and refined” ethos, partnering with European timber prefab company Dan-Wood to bring the latest showcase home to life for the IFA 2023 technology show in Berlin.
Everything LG is integrated level where one cannot separate the technologies from the home, and vice versa, with various built-in kitchen appliances, the WashTower Compact, QuadWash dishwasher, a water purifier, and the Therma V Monobloc air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) for cooling and heating, all stamped with LG’s moniker. And of course, everything is operable and customizable using LG’s smart home centerpiece technology, ThinQ connectivity.
Over the years we’ve seen numerous prefabricated homes built with similar high-minded intentions. Brands like MUJI and Vipp have also designed similar architectural solutions featuring optimized efficiencies and furnished with turnkey features designed for modern living to varying degree of sustainability and attainability; pre-planned communities like Serenbe propose a more interpretable architectural canvas. But none of these homes of the future – LG designed or otherwise – have become a reality addressing the challenges of turning an innovative home concept into a scalable and livable place to call home for the many.
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