2 REMB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020THE NEW YORK TIMESSources: 2019/2020 A.I.A. Home Design Trends SurveysHome Design Trends
Down2019 2020 2019 2020
Room type Up UpHome office 4 %33 % 0 %68%Mud room/drop zone 2 32 0 38Outdoor living 1 61 1 62Au pair/ 9
in-law suites46 7 42Additional
multifunction
room/flexible space–– 245Exercise room/ –
yoga space–428Sun rooms/three- 19 25 11 31
season porchesProduct Type RequestsProduct type DownSpecial Function Room RequestsUp Down UpLow
Maintenance060%% % 1 57%Synthetic
materials450 544Smart
thermostats160 150Tankless 10
water heater50 7 42Products for
improving indoor
air quality227 241Energy efficient 3 35 5 39Task lighting 2 21 1 28Thermal-moisture 2 26 3 27
control (for mold)Automated 8 32 9 28
window shadesDownA recent survey of architects reveals that
clients are looking for ways to improve the
time they spend at home.The coronavirus pandemic is already
shaping home design trends, with
special-function rooms and products
that serve needs particular to the pan-
demic rising in popularity, according to
a recent survey by the American Insti-
tute of Architects.
Every year, the institute surveys
about 425 individual architects or
firms in the business of custom-home
building or renovation. Participants
are asked to indicate whether requests
for certain types of rooms and prod-
ucts are increasing, decreasing or
stable. Trends are identified by noting
the increases and offsetting them by
the decreases. This year’s results were
gathered in July.
“I won’t say it was unexpected,” said
Kermit Baker, the organization’s chief
economist and a senior research fellow
at the Harvard Joint Center for Hous-
ing Studies. “I’d say surprising in the
sense that the pandemic response was
happening faster than we might have
expected.”
In this year’s survey, 68 percent of
respondents cited increasing client
requests for home offices, and noneThe Pandemic Shapes Home Design
reported a decrease. Compare that
with the 2019 results, which showed a
33 percent increase and a 4 percent
decrease. A related feature, enhanced
or “task” lighting, also gained popular-
ity.
Specifically, there were more re-
quests for sunrooms or three-season
porches (rooms that bring nature in-
doors) and mud rooms or “drop zones”
(areas to isolate contaminated items
from the house at large). Tellingly, in
the midst of a pandemic caused by an
airborne virus, products for improving
indoor air quality were newly popular:
41 percent of respondents cited an
increase for such requests, while 2
percent indicated they were on the
decline, compared with a 27 percent
increase and a 2 percent decrease last
year.
Other new trends included exercise
or yoga rooms and flexible spaces for
home-schooling or other needs. Other
special-function rooms (outdoor living
spaces among them) maintained their
popularity or edged up, as did prod-
ucts that were low maintenance and
energy efficient.
This week’s chart shows which
home features were the most popular
and how requests for them rose or fell
in 2019 and 2020.
MICHAEL KOLOMATSKYCalculatorWish Lists
I live in a luxury rental building in Brooklyn.
We have a doorman but not 24-hour securi-
ty. I recently noticed that the door to the
bike room was busted. After getting evasive
responses from the concierge and building
management, I learned from another tenant
that the front door had been broken into
twice in separate attempts to burglarize the
bike room. The building needs security, and
other tenants agree. How can we pressure
management to keep us safe?Your landlord is required to provide you
and your neighbors with a certain level of
security, including a locked front door and a
two-way intercom. But the building does
not have to offer you a 24-hour attendant,
as most don’t have doormen.
Since your building has recently been the
target of break-ins, management should, at
the very least, make sure its security meas-
ures are adequate. Put the landlord on
notice about your concerns. “Circulating a
petition for other tenants to sign is a great
starting point,” said Jennifer Rozen, a
Manhattan lawyer who represents tenants.
It’s not necessary to form a tenants’
association, but it could help you organize.You are in a strong position right now to
demand additional security. The rental
market is weak, and your landlord may be
concerned about losing high-paying ten-
ants. You could withhold rent as a group,
arguing that weak safety measures violate
the warranty of habitability, a state statute.
The landlord would probably rather fix the
problem than start a case in housing court
for each incident of unpaid rent. Market-
rate tenants, however, don’t have strong
protections once their leases expire.
There are other approaches to consider,
too. State law allows tenants to pool their
resources to hire a lobby attendant. It may
be a cost that tenants are willing to pay if
the landlord won’t budge.
Or, try public shaming. Post reviews of
the building online, pointing out that there
have been recent break-ins. “Keep it truth-
ful and factual,” said Samuel J. Himmel-
stein, a lawyer who represents tenants.
Include only information that you can back
up with police reports, “and you won’t get
sued for defamation.”
Tenants may also want to reconsider
where they store their bikes. Bike thefts in
the city are up 27 percent, and cycling
advocates caution riders against storing
their bike anywhere but in their apartment.
RONDA KAYSENTenants Can Pressure Their Landlords
To Keep Thieves Out of the Building
NADIA PILLONAsk Real EstateBike Room Break-Ins
To submit your questions or comments, email
[email protected].An article last Sunday about design trends in new luxury condos misspelled the surname of a
partner at Concrete, an Amsterdam-based architecture and design firm. He is Erikjan Vermeulen,
not Bermeulen.CORRECTIONIf ever there were a year to try games that
can drop you into an alternate reality, 2020
would be it. As the coronavirus pandemic
restricts our travel and the never-ending
news cycle weighs on our minds, a virtual
reality headset can provide some relief, es-
cape and distraction (at least for a little bit)
from actual reality. It’s one of the best ways
to leave home from the comfort of your
home.
The goggle-like gadgets, which float a
screen in front of your eyes to create a virtu-
al 360-degree landscape, offer an immer-
sive way to play increasingly powerful vid-
eo games, make art, exercise, and even
spend time with friends. And it’s a good time
to get in on the action: In the past, VR head-
sets were attached to a computer and were
prohibitively expensive. But the new gener-
ation is relatively affordable.
Facebook recently introduced the Oculus
Quest 2, a $300 headset that Wirecutter
named its top pick because it doesn’t re-
quire cords or a computer — you can slip it
on and start playing just about anywhere,
though it does require a Facebook account
to use. An alternative is Playstation’s
PSVR, but with outdated specs and a new
PlayStation due in November, the PSVR
will soon be obsolete. Other VR headsets,
like the Vive and Valve Index, are pricier
and require PCs.
The rapidly expanding VR universe,
which is accessible from an app store within
the headset, will please beginners of all
tastes and ages, from an experienced PC
gamer to your 8-year-old niece. Here are
some tips on where to begin.
For the ‘Matrix’ Superfan
Superhot ($25), a stylish first-person shoot-
er game, challenges players to kill faceless
red enemies with weapons like guns and
ninja stars. Originally made for PC, the
game translates perfectly to VR — game-
play relies on moving to avoid bullets and
punches. If the player stops moving, so does
everything else. Not only does it feel like be-
ing in “The Matrix,” but it’s also a nice touch
for beginners who can stand still and pause
the action when they begin to get over-
whelmed.
For the Escape Room Buff
If a slow-paced puzzle is more your pace, I
Expect You to Die ($25) is one of the best
examples for VR. Each level is like an es-
cape room, where players must use the
items around them to complete challenges
such as starting a car before driving it out of
an airplane or destroying a villain-devel-
oped machine. When players mess up, they
die and start the level over again. The game
is single player, but it’s still fun to pass the
headset back and forth with a friend to work
through roadblocks together.For the Kids (and Adults, Too)
Angry Birds helped to hook the world on
mobile gaming more than a decade ago, and
the game works well in VR, too, where fling-
ing feathered avians at green pigs and their
flimsy dwellings in a tropical island setting
has a surprisingly relaxing effect. Angry
Birds VR: Isle of Pigs ($15) also has the op-
tion to build custom levels, adding the abil-
ity to choose your own pigs, block materials,
and use as much TNT as you want, for play-
ers who are into that sort of thing.For the Beat Craver
If you download just one VR game, make it
Beat Saber ($30). It’s reminiscent of the ar-
cade hit Dance Dance Revolution, only in-
stead of stomping their feet in rhythm with
the music, players move while swinging
two light sabers to cut through flying boxes.
Break this game out at a party and guests of
all ages can immediately play — or laugh at
the headset wearers as they swing their
arms wildly and hop from side to side. It
also makes for a great workout for family
members missing their days at the gym.For the Serious Gamer
Deep with story, puzzles and action, Half-
Life: Alyx ($60) is a critically acclaimed
game that links the stories of the beloved
Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Players collect re-
sources, fight enemies and, most impres-
sively, explore a virtual landscape that feels
rich in detail and opportunities for interac-
tion. This feels like the full-featured game
that many of VR’s earliest adopters have
been waiting for. The catch? It’s a PC VR
game, meaning it utilizes the power of a
high-end computer to render its full effects.
It also requires an Oculus Link cable ($80)
to run it on a Quest 2 (owning both a PC and
a Link cable will put many more VR games
within your reach).For the Fortnite Devotee
Population: One might not stand out among
the increasingly crowded field of battle ro-
yale games available for Xbox or PlaySta-
tion, but it’s the first worthy option for VR.
Parachute into town with a squad and then
gather weapons, ammo and medical sup-
plies to survive the coming battle. A con-
stantly shrinking play area pushes players
closer and closer to enemies, forcing them
to fight to see which team is the last to sur-
vive, making it an adrenaline-filled bonding
experience.For the Virtual Athlete
Who else dreamed of being Ender Wiggin
as a kid? Echo Arena, part of Echo VR
(free), transports players to a zero-gravity
battle room that looks like it’s straight out of
Ender’s Game. Competitors fling them-
selves off walls and obstacles in hopes of
tossing a disc through the opposing team’s
goal — but watch out for opponents trying
to land a punch. This is a great game to try
with a friend who also has a headset, and
shows a promising future for sports games
reinvented for VR. Players should be sure to
clear out a room before playing so they don’t
go careening into any furniture.Slip a Virtual World
Right Onto Your Head
New devices and games are
making it easier to escape to
an alternate universe.
Virtual reality is becoming more user friendly. Facebook recently introduced the Oculus Quest 2,
above, a relatively affordable ($300) headset that doesn’t require cords or a computer.
VIA FACEBOOKWIRECUTTERDon’t let the name fool you: Angry Birds makes for a
surprisingly zen time in virtual reality.If you stop moving in Superhot, so does
everything around you, allowing players to
contort their bodies in ‘Matrix’-like ways.
Echo Arena transports the athletic gamer to a zero-gravity battle room.
By SIGNE BREWSTERVIA RESOLUTION GAMESVIA FACEBOOKVIA FACEBOOK.......................................................................................
This list is adapted from Wirecutter, the New
York Times company that reviews and
recommends products.
.