on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling
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THE POLYAMOROUS HOME
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati presents The Polyamorous Home. As new biological and robotic companions enter our homes, domestic space becomes a site of constant negotiation and coexistence. In this expanded ecology, the home must adapt—functionally and aesthetically. As inaugural Guest Editor of INTERNI (May 2026 issue), Carlo Ratti explores this theme with architects, designers, critics, philosophers, cooks, sex workers, and many others. From Cicciolina’s ranking of the top 10 sexiest humanoids to Patricia Urquiola and Emanuele Coccia’s exploration of a new domestic ecology, from Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley’s investigation into the role of bacteria to Diane von Furstenberg’s selection of the sleekest dog homes, discover The Polyamorous Home as it will be unveiled in New York City for NYCxDesign on 11 May 2026.
6 MAY 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati presents The Polyamorous Home. As new biological and robotic companions enter our homes, domestic space becomes a site of constant negotiation and coexistence. In this expanded ecology, the home must adapt—functionally and aesthetically. As inaugural Guest Editor of INTERNI (May 2026 issue), Carlo Ratti develops this theme with architects, designers, critics, philosophers, cooks, sex workers, and others. Discover The Polyamorous Home as it arrives in New York City for NYCxDesign on 11 May 2026.
Modern architecture gave us the home as a controlled system. That idea is now losing its relevance, increasingly out of step with how we actually live. Today’s home is the stage for a continuous invasion. Humanoids have taken over the roles of nannies, cooks, and lovers. Cats purr from atop our Roombas. Insects and bacteria rule our refrigerators, with cricket flour muffins and kombucha on tap. Leaves of every kind sprout from hydroponic walls, crawling across countertops and up the stairs. Here “polyamory” moves beyond its human-centric meaning, describing a condition of coexistence among bacteria, plants, insects, animals, humans, and robots.
The Polyamorous Home names a condition that already exists but remains largely unacknowledged. In the issue of INTERNI, it draws on Aaron Betsky’s queer precedents, Mark Wigley and Beatriz Colomina’s bacterial imaginaries, Cicciolina’s hypersexual humanoids, and Carlo Antonelli’s dispatches from within a polyamorous household dressed by Antonio Marras. Patricia Urquiola enters into dialogue with Emanuele Coccia, while Diane von Furstenberg selects the most refined dog homes. The issue culminates in a speculative guide to twenty-four hours in a newly polyamorous Milan.
Several design principles emerge from the Polyamorous Home. One is to leave room for the unexpected. Like natural systems, the home must accommodate change, growth, and unforeseen interactions. Another is to remove rigid boundaries. The separation between inside and outside, human and non-human, natural and artificial, is increasingly artificial itself.
“To discover the future, we must return to the past,” says Carlo Ratti, Professor at MIT and Politecnico di Milano and founding partner of CRA. “For most of human history, domestic and natural life were inseparable. Animals shared warmth with people; fermentation took place where children slept; insects, bacteria, and plants were active participants in the household, not contaminants to eliminate. Instead of Le Corbusier’s ‘machine for living,’ we might now imagine a ‘sponge to live with,’ a ‘brewer to ferment inside,’ or perhaps a ‘super king-size bed to…’—well, you get the idea.”
As INTERNI editor-in-chief Gilda Bojardi notes: “This edition marks a significant shift, introducing a more open and collective way of building editorial thought, capable of weaving together international perspectives and diverse design languages. With Carlo Ratti as Guest Editor, the magazine expands its lens on contemporary living, reading the transformations of the home and society beyond disciplinary and geographical boundaries.”
For CRA, this resonates with Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., the theme of the 2025 Biennale Architettura in Venice. But with a broader architectural conviction that space is continuously reconfigured through feedback, and that design’s role is to facilitate coexistence across systems rather than impose a fixed prescription.
The May issue of INTERNI is previewed in New York City during NYCxDesign on 11 May 2026, together with the third edition of BIG ITALY NEW YORK, a city-wide circuit connecting over 50 Italian design showrooms across New York.
CREDITS
INTERNI MAY 2026
THE POLYAMOROUS HOME by guest editor Carlo Ratti
CONSULENTE EDITORIALE POLIAMOROSO/POLYAMOROUS EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Carlo Antonelli
COORDINATORE POLIAMOROSO/POLYAMOROUS COORDINATOR
Javier Madero
POLYAMOS
Davis Evans Woodburne, Jazmina Figueroa, Gabriel Rule
Cast of this issue of Interni:
Aaron Betsky, Andrea Pugiotto, Antonio Marras, Arduino, Aurelio Balestra, Beatriz Colomina, Benedetta Tagliabue, Boonserm Premthada, Bruce Sterling, Carlo Antonelli, Carlo Ratti Associati, Cicciolina, Common Accounts, David Michon, Davide Gomba, Diane von Furstenberg, Enabot, Ensamble Studio, Eric Schwartau, FarmBot, Fernanda Canales, Franco Tagliabue, François Roche, Giancarlo Mazzanti, Green&Blue, Hans Ulrich Obrist, HUSOS, Jan Klinger, Jasmina Tešanović, Judi Harvest, Kono Designs, Lacol.COOP, Luca Cipelletti, Makr Shakr, Mark Moffett, Mark Wigley, Massimo Banzi, Materials Assemble, Mauro Porcini, Nigel Coates, OFFPOLIN, Ossidiana, Parallect Design, Patricia Urquiola, Phineas Harper, PNAT, Polybion, Roofscapes, Ryan White Design, Sam Jacob, Snøhetta, Søren Pihlmann, Stephan Petermann, Studio Daniel Canogar, Sumayya Vally, Takeshi Hosaka, Terreform ONE, The Decorators, Toolbox Coworking, Vladan Joler, Winy Maas.