The Spy Hole Door & Key Hole Door by NEXT Architects
NEXT Architects
The Spy Hole Door & Key Hole Door, 2001
Imagine a door that promises privacy but still gives you a peek, and one that invites a glance but keeps you locked out. The Spy Hole Door and Key Hole Door by NEXT Architects playfully twist the idea of entry and isolation. One door shields you, yet lets curiosity in; the other tempts you with an opening, yet keeps your world sealed. These works turn thresholds into theatre and privacy into participatory design — clever, familiar, and a little mischievous.
Me, Myself & You explored the delicate, intimate, and often unpredictable ways design shapes our social world. Fences that invite neighbours to play and benches that determine how close we sit — each object examines the fine balance between connection and distance. With human relationships at its core, the project invited us to smile, hesitate, and perhaps take a seat where we normally wouldn’t.
More than an exploration of materials or form, it focused on behaviour, identity, and the subtle spaces between people in the 21st century. First presented in Milan in 2001 and later in Utrecht, the exhibition transformed everyday encounters into playful experiments in social design.
