Javier Fernández Contreras (Granada, 1982) is a Geneva-based architect and architectural theorist, and the head of the Department of Space Design/Interior Architecture at HEAD – Genève. His work explores the relationship between architecture, representation and media, with a specific focus on the role of interiors in the construction of contemporaneity.
THE INTERIORS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Architecture, Space, and Technology in the 21st Century
The Interiors of Social Media provides a critical exploration of how social media is influencing contemporary architecture, focusing on interior spaces as sites of consumerism, display and mediatization. From the rooms of the most-followed influencers on Instagram, Twitch and Pinterest to the myriad representations of space in contexts as diverse as humanitarian crises, adult content platforms or pet domesticities, the book argues that social media does not merely depict interiors, but actively scripts new spatial types: homes that are both private and hyper-public, domestic and performative, material and algorithmic. Drawing on architectural theory and digital humanities, the contemporary interior is defined as both an architectural construct and a techno-social apparatus, i.e., a fundamental lens for understanding the ethical, political and ecological implications of digital platforms in the 21st century.
Contributions by: Paule Perron, Michela Bassanelli, Damien Greder, Vytautas Jankauskas, and students at HEAD – Genève
Category: Book. English
Author/s: Javier F. Contreras
ISBN: 978-1-350-53745-3
Architecture, Space, and Technology in the 21st Century
The Interiors of Social Media provides a critical exploration of how social media is influencing contemporary architecture, focusing on interior spaces as sites of consumerism, display and mediatization. From the rooms of the most-followed influencers on Instagram, Twitch and Pinterest to the myriad representations of space in contexts as diverse as humanitarian crises, adult content platforms or pet domesticities, the book argues that social media does not merely depict interiors, but actively scripts new spatial types: homes that are both private and hyper-public, domestic and performative, material and algorithmic. Drawing on architectural theory and digital humanities, the contemporary interior is defined as both an architectural construct and a techno-social apparatus, i.e., a fundamental lens for understanding the ethical, political and ecological implications of digital platforms in the 21st century.
Contributions by: Paule Perron, Michela Bassanelli, Damien Greder, Vytautas Jankauskas, and students at HEAD – Genève
Category: Book. English
Author/s: Javier F. Contreras
ISBN: 978-1-350-53745-3
(London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2026)
![]()
NOTHING ABOUT INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
Often dissident, sometimes adherent, Nothing About is, in essence, indefinable because it is adaptive and fluid. Speculative or hands-on, this discipline – if we can call it that – displays all the ambivalences of our contemporary lifestyles: superficial and profound, profane and divine, present everywhere and nowhere, and often regarded as futile, even though it could nonetheless destroy the most beautiful of insides. This book brings together a variety of intellectual tools and insights – polysemic and ambiguous, bespoke and improvised, ornamental and criminal, spanning media, technology, the arts and other, often undefined fields – that analyze the impact of the discipline on contemporary design. In the end, what makes Nothing About charming is that this inside – insofar as it is still defined as such – has only the humble ambition of accompanying beings, both animate and inanimate, within their environment, like a friend who is never far away.
Essays by: Camille Bagnoud, Ahmed Belkhodja, Javier F. Contreras, Valentina De Luigi, Valentin Dubois, David Fagart, Line Fontana, Jan D. Geipel, Jean-Pierre Greff, Simon Husslein, Youri Kravtchenko, Paule Perron, Philippe Rahm, Vera Sacchetti, Leonid Slonimskiy, Bertrand Van Dorp, Roberto Zancan, Daniel Zamarbide
Category: Book. English
Editor/s: Javier F. Contreras, Youri Kravtchenko, Julie E. Julliard
ISBN: 978-90-835325-3-0
© HEAD – Genève, Raphaëlle Mueller
Often dissident, sometimes adherent, Nothing About is, in essence, indefinable because it is adaptive and fluid. Speculative or hands-on, this discipline – if we can call it that – displays all the ambivalences of our contemporary lifestyles: superficial and profound, profane and divine, present everywhere and nowhere, and often regarded as futile, even though it could nonetheless destroy the most beautiful of insides. This book brings together a variety of intellectual tools and insights – polysemic and ambiguous, bespoke and improvised, ornamental and criminal, spanning media, technology, the arts and other, often undefined fields – that analyze the impact of the discipline on contemporary design. In the end, what makes Nothing About charming is that this inside – insofar as it is still defined as such – has only the humble ambition of accompanying beings, both animate and inanimate, within their environment, like a friend who is never far away.
Essays by: Camille Bagnoud, Ahmed Belkhodja, Javier F. Contreras, Valentina De Luigi, Valentin Dubois, David Fagart, Line Fontana, Jan D. Geipel, Jean-Pierre Greff, Simon Husslein, Youri Kravtchenko, Paule Perron, Philippe Rahm, Vera Sacchetti, Leonid Slonimskiy, Bertrand Van Dorp, Roberto Zancan, Daniel Zamarbide
Category: Book. English
Editor/s: Javier F. Contreras, Youri Kravtchenko, Julie E. Julliard
ISBN: 978-90-835325-3-0
© HEAD – Genève, Raphaëlle Mueller
(Eindhoven: Set Margins’, 2025)
![]()
ARCHITECTURE, HUMANITARIANISM, AND SOCIAL MEDIA
This study analyzes how social media represents bodies, spaces, and architecture in humanitarian crises, contrasting the narratives of global institutions and celebrities with those of local organizations and civilians. Developed with MAIA students and based on content from more than 200 accounts across 13 regions affected by conflict and displacement—from Ukraine and South Sudan to the Darién Gap and Bangladesh—it reveals how social media reshapes humanitarian perception in two opposing yet interconnected ways: by distancing attention through passive scrolling and by fostering digital intimacy through close views of victims’ embodied experiences. Architecture emerges as an active agent in these mediated encounters, while algorithms privilege standardized, visually compelling imagery over complex realities.
Data Analytics: (MAIA students in Interior Architecture): Matilde Arletti, Martino De Grandis, Maxime Joost, Lina Laube, Bianca Longoni, Hugo Maia Schmitt, Letizia Milone, Ailyn Pieyre, Célestine Potin, Paul Rigal, Lisa Schober, Kim Schönauer, Karol Szmigielski, Mariannina Thielemans
Category: Essay. English
Author/s: Javier F. Contreras, Damien Greder
Download Essay (English)
© Samuel Jaccard
This study analyzes how social media represents bodies, spaces, and architecture in humanitarian crises, contrasting the narratives of global institutions and celebrities with those of local organizations and civilians. Developed with MAIA students and based on content from more than 200 accounts across 13 regions affected by conflict and displacement—from Ukraine and South Sudan to the Darién Gap and Bangladesh—it reveals how social media reshapes humanitarian perception in two opposing yet interconnected ways: by distancing attention through passive scrolling and by fostering digital intimacy through close views of victims’ embodied experiences. Architecture emerges as an active agent in these mediated encounters, while algorithms privilege standardized, visually compelling imagery over complex realities.
Data Analytics: (MAIA students in Interior Architecture): Matilde Arletti, Martino De Grandis, Maxime Joost, Lina Laube, Bianca Longoni, Hugo Maia Schmitt, Letizia Milone, Ailyn Pieyre, Célestine Potin, Paul Rigal, Lisa Schober, Kim Schönauer, Karol Szmigielski, Mariannina Thielemans
Category: Essay. English
Author/s: Javier F. Contreras, Damien Greder
Download Essay (English)
© Samuel Jaccard
2084: A DIORAMA OF THE FUTURE
2084: A Diorama of the Future is an architectural speculation on post-Anthropocene challenges, envisioning a future where some cities lie abandoned while others endure extreme climate conditions. In this scenario, a diverse group of human and non-human explorers parachutes into the year 2084, navigating survival and reconstruction. Unlike 19th-century dioramas that romanticized nature behind glass, this project transforms part of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi’s annexes into a performative device, immersing visitors in damaged landscapes while confronting environmental and societal dilemmas. Within this large space, both performers and visitors take on the role of inhabitants in a changing vivarium, whose evolution challenges the relationship between vision, habitat, and climate change.
Category: Exhibition
Team: HEAD – Genève, Interior Architecture
Awards: Nominee, Créateurs Design Awards 2025
Press: Designboom / Dezeen / hube magazine / Elle décor / Interni / Trendhunter / Adorno Design
© HEAD – Genève. Raphaëlle Mueller
2084: A Diorama of the Future is an architectural speculation on post-Anthropocene challenges, envisioning a future where some cities lie abandoned while others endure extreme climate conditions. In this scenario, a diverse group of human and non-human explorers parachutes into the year 2084, navigating survival and reconstruction. Unlike 19th-century dioramas that romanticized nature behind glass, this project transforms part of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi’s annexes into a performative device, immersing visitors in damaged landscapes while confronting environmental and societal dilemmas. Within this large space, both performers and visitors take on the role of inhabitants in a changing vivarium, whose evolution challenges the relationship between vision, habitat, and climate change.
Category: Exhibition
Team: HEAD – Genève, Interior Architecture
Awards: Nominee, Créateurs Design Awards 2025
Press: Designboom / Dezeen / hube magazine / Elle décor / Interni / Trendhunter / Adorno Design
© HEAD – Genève. Raphaëlle Mueller
Alcova / Milan, 2024
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
