The "flat of the future" is probably not the one you'd expect - no cutting-edge technology, no robots or artificial intelligence.

Instead, the 26 square-metre apartment near Paris aims to drastically cut carbon emissions and water consumption, with "low-tech" devices allowing for a sustainable and nearly self-reliant life.

French interior designer Caroline Pultz and engineer Corentin de Chatelperron moved into their "urban biosphere" this summer to lead a lifestyle that cuts out waste and divides water use by tenfold in order to meet the United Nations' 2050 target for greenhouse gas emissions.

Part of an experiment to evaluate low-tech living, the small studio, situated in the close suburb of Paris in Boulogne-Billancourt, is peppered with features that were designed to be simple, cheap, accessible to anyone and easy to repair, 41 year-old de Chatelperron said.

In the kitchen, there is no gas stove, but rather a resistance under a well-insulated pot powered by solar panels installed on the roof in order to slow cook the food. A water system flows through the living room, used to grow several vegetables used for cooking.

In the bathroom, the large shower only uses a sprinkler to wash. Pultz says it is as comfortable as a traditional shower but only uses. Fraction of the water. The water is sent back to the aquaponics to feed the plants.

Hanging around the bathroom are oyster mushrooms, which Pultz said grows in the ideally humid environment of the space. The couple harvests around 1.5 kg of mushrooms weekly.

In total, they hope to only use 30 litres of water each per day, compared to the average 149 litres a day for a French person.

The waste in the flat is recycled by black soldier fly larvae, which "transform the compost into a fertiliser that is directly assimilated by plants," Pultz said.

Pultz and de Chatelperron are also experimenting with breeding edible crickets.

"It's delicious. It tastes like shrimp, but a little earthy if you like," 31 year-old Pultz said.

The experiment started in July and is due to end at the start of November. The couple is being followed by researchers, including nutritionists, with a scientific protocol to measure the ecological footprint, the couples's health and the financial accessibility.

This experiment follows a successful one in the Mexican desert in 2023. The couple, who wanted to replicate the previous study in a populated city, are working with the European Space Agency and engineering schools.

The experiment also calls on over 1,000 families to try out the various low-tech features at home. - report from Reuters

(Production: Noemie Olive, Lucien Libert)