AUTHENTICITY, CONNECTION, IMPACT OF GEN Z INCLUDED IN TOP TRENDS FOR DESIGN IN 2024

AUTHENTICITY, CONNECTION, OF

GEN

TOP

Z

INCLUDED

TRENDS

DESIGN

IN

IMPACT IN

FOR

2024

2024 ASID Trends Outlook Report Details Key Shifts Impacting the Design Community

Earlier this week, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) released its 2024 Trends Outlook, a research report identifying shifts in societal and demographic trends impacting, or predicted to impact, interior design in the year ahead. Key findings in 2024 explore four overarching trends that will impact the design practice in transformative ways: consumers’ desire for connection, the allure of quiet luxury, blurred lines between live-work-and-play, and the intersection of sustainability and wellness with life and business.

Khoi Vo, chief executive officer, ASID

Compiled from a broad scan of

Living With & Learning From

media sources, as well as the

Gen Z: As the most racially and

Pew Research Center, the U.S.

ethnically diverse generation,

Census Bureau, along with ASID

those in Gen Z have distinctly

research and surveys, the report

different priorities than prior

offers a comprehensive view of

generations. Following recent

American life and assesses the

health-related, political, social,

implications for the interior

and cultural issues, Gen Z’s

design and adjacent

experiences over the years have

communities.

shaped and shifted their desire for genuine connections.

“The world today recognizes the

Moving forward in 2024,

leading role design plays in

designers should consider this

impacting the ways we live,

change in consumer culture

work, learn, play and heal,” said

and use the generation’s

Khoi Vo, chief executive officer,

evolving empathies and

ASID. “This report serves as a

concerns to inform future

compass to guide us in the year

design decisions.

ahead, knowing that design is critical when considering everything from personal wellness to a corporation’s bottom line. As the largest professional organization serving all sectors of the interior design community, ASID is dedicated to providing our community with tools to impact the world through design.”

Solo Living & Seeking Connection: The American family has undergone significant change in recent decades, and Americans are experiencing family life in increasingly different ways, including through the rise of one-person households. With solo-living on the rise, Americans are seeking connectedness to loved ones and their communities.

Through gathering spaces within the home, considerations of family pets in design, and amusement and “eatertainment,” designers can use their practice to further their clients’ connections in 2024.

Wellness in Gathering Spaces: Like many restaurants and bars, kitchens are now using large window walls to connect visually with the outdoors, while living rooms are using retractable window panels to extend spaces onto patios.

Beyond increasing the ease of entertaining, connecting both visually and physically with nature has been shown to reduce blood pressure and heart rates and improve engagement, attentiveness and cognitive performance.

Blending Sustainability & Wellness: As companies and designers think holistically about creating environments that support better human health, many are increasingly recognizing the interconnectedness of individual health, community health and environmental stewardships. With many firms implementing tactics in both buildings and employee programs to synthesize sustainability and Aging in Place: More than one in four adults fall each year and the fear of falling can limit older adults, resulting in further physical decline, depression and social isolation. According to the National Institute on Aging, many people want to stay in their own home and maintain independence for as long as possible, and they will need help to retrofit their homes.

“Innovative solutions that enable the elderly to remain in their own homes for longer, rather than taking up space in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes” are increasingly important as a significant number of the population ages.

wellness, we’re seeing an increase in design decisions contributing to personal wellness and building health including better indoor air quality, increased natural light, and other amenities. Sustainability is especially prevalent in 2024 as we tackle extreme weather events with most Americans believing that climate change is harming people in the U.S. and likely to get worse.

AI & Technology have been revolutionizing the design industry: AI has long been utilized in commercial practice, but in 2024 it is gaining usage in residential markets with early adoption from younger designers. Generative AI applications are being used in a variety of applications: organizations are using AI to generate floor plans, design iterations, occupancy, and energy models, coordinated sets of construction documents, specifications and reports; while others are using it to increase autonomy, create experiencedriven design and deliver environmental settings that occupants can customize. The personalization of the consumer experience is just the newest means of the impact of AI.

Blurring the Lines Between Live-Work-Play: Recent changes in the post-pandemic workplaces have influenced a preference for unique and authentic travel experiences, and blurred the lines of living, working, staying, and playing. As the lines between work and play fade, designers need to be wellversed in cross-specialty design, blending the sectors of design through “eatertainment” spaces in residences, informal living rooms in corporate offices, team workspace and conference rooms in hotels, and more.

ASID, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2025, is committed to broadening the impact for the future of design in all of the places we work, play, and heal. Learn more at asid.org.