Tracing objects of a lost room in suburbia

Purpose: Bringing product design and architectural design together, this article looks into the extraordinary use of everyday objects in urban and suburban spaces in The Lost Room mini-television series (2006). The study questions the accepted meanings of products and spaces in relation to their physicality, perception and use. Through multi-layered analysis of the relationship between objects, (architectural and suburban/urban) spaces and their users, the article opens up a discussion about the purpose, meaning and influence of designed products and places.

Design/methodology/approach: In this context, this qualitative research makes use of moving images (as representations of products and spaces) to propose a critique of contemporary design via (sub-)urban design practices. 

Findings: Using irony and metaphor to question the habit of object possession, accumulation and fetishism, the series challenges blind loyalty to contemporary beliefs. The Lost Room is not concerned with new forms or new designs. Instead, it forces the audience to consider the meaning of both objects and spaces in relation to one another. By transforming our understanding of space, the series also reveals humans' spatial limitations. The Lost Room is a unique small screen “product” in which people's relationship to the designed world is interrogated by having mass-produced objects and the built environment constantly in the foreground. 

Originality/value: Film analysis from a design perspective is not new; however, this is the first time The Lost Room is brought to the attention of architects and designers via scholarly work. Film theorists and cinemagoers may also benefit from the unique design perspective outlined in the article.