The Smithsons House of the Future was part of a temporary exhibition held in 1956 to
showcase what life might be like 25 years later in the year 1981. While a number of
their predictions seem quaint, some of them are curiously on point. One thing is for sure,
no house has ever looked like this since and here’s your chance to see what it would
have looked like. Stay tuned.
Hello and Welcome to Architecture with Stewart
I’m fascinated by old predictions of the future. In a certain way all architects have
to predict the future and help the world move toward that vision. Architects are eternal
optimists.
There’s no more optimistic a vision than the House of the Future which is one of those
designs that keeps coming back to me. I studied it in college, I’ve seen lectures about
it, and even wrote a paper about a couple years ago. I think my interest in it has to
do with how deeply the architects reconsidered domestic daily life. The design touches almost
every aspect of how we live. From the clothes we wear, to the technology we use in communication,
to the physical materials and shapes of the home.
This level of scrutiny by an architect is only made possible through an exhibition,
because no one would ever subscribe to such a scripted life. In fact, as part of this
house, there were paid actors pretending to live their modern lives on full display while
wearing costumes specifically designed and made for the purpose.
Even though I’ve studied this thing off and on over the years, I’ve obviously never
had a chance to visit the elusive construction. It was always meant to be temporary and was
torn down shortly after it was constructed. But, that doesn’t stop my curiosity of imagining
what it would have been like to occupy.
So, we recreated the building digitally in order to walk around and explore it. There
is a link in the description below for you to be able to navigate the house on your own
in a browser window without any added software. But, before you head over there, stick around
as I take you on a tour of the house, beginning with the timeline.
Timeline The House of the Future was built in 1956
by Peter and Alison Smithson in Hall Kensington, West London, England.
Peter Smithson was born in 1923 while Alison was born 5 years later in 1928.
They met while studying architecture at Durham University and married in 1949. They started
their practice and teaching right away in 1950.
Things moved extremely quickly for the Smithsons, in part, due to winning a major competition
while still in their early twenties for the Hunstanton School. Their entry adopted the
tropes of Mies van der Rohe’s rigidly modular arrangements of dark steel, glass and brick.
But these were configured in a much more spatially diverse composition that accommodated public
gatherings and community.
The budget for the building was very modest and the Smithsons made the most with what
they had. Their strategy was to use mundane construction materials and expose them at
every turn. This is combined with a simple but grand composition of spaces that leads
to a raw geometric interior that boldly expresses its structural and material logic.
They continued to advocate on behalf of the virtues of exposed materials and the importance
of spaces for people to gather, through their work, their teaching, and as leaders in the
field of architecture. They believed this was an important formula for rebuilding after
the ravages of WWII.
From this position, they helped to found a group of like minded architects that called
themselves TEAM 10. These folks would gather to hash out theories about architecture and
disseminate their writings to build a global dialogue on important matters.
One of these in important matters was Brutalism which embodied the principles the Smithsons
pioneered in their Huntstanton school design. Much of their work afterward would build on
these ideas, and, as this kind of architecture rose and fell out of favor, so did the perceptions
and amount of work the Smithsons produced.
Significant milestones include the construction for the Economist magazine building in Picadilly
circus, and, their most famous project, Robin Hood Gardens housing complex in London. This
project offer mass housing that accommodated the occupants need for privacy and ownership
while imagining new ways of building community through ‘streets in the sky.’
These exaggerated exterior hallways were to create vibrant spaces for community and exchange.
As many know, it didn’t work out that way andthis experiment was fraught with difficulties
from the beginning and the buildings were torn down in 2017. This, among other challenges
slowed the couple’s building production to a halt while they focused on teaching and
writing where they continued to shape architectural thought ever since.
But Back in 1956, the Smithson were young and full of ideas for architecture and for
how architects could reminage the world they were inheriting. The House of the Future is
full of this energy and remains unique in their portfolio of work.
While it proved a dead end for the Smithsons, ideas spawned here come out in their teaching
and their students such as archigram shortly after.
Analysis The House of the future is a pretty strange
thing. It had two competing design pressures. Firstly, it was meant to be seen as a repeatable
module as a solution to a larger housing problem. The rectangular shape and organic courtyard
in the middle come together to create a unit that fits within a larger community. However,
it was also designed to be a singular display as part of a larger exhibition. So, some of
the decisions in its design are a result of have visitors enter and view the kind of promise
the house offers, and then leave without disruption.
It was designed for a very specific clientele, a young urban couple without kids. In fact,
a curious amount of specificity permeates the design. This is where I think the project
seems so different from their others, because much of the smithson’s other work tends
to be open and flexible, ripe for folks to interpret and behave as they please.
But here, every surface is either fixed or designed to move with limited range of motion
and extreme precision. For example, the light above the bed perfectly traces the face of
the female inhabitant. Given this, its important to keep in mind that this is an exercise in
futurism and fantasy and not a proposal for how they think everyone should live.
The house is almost completely closed off to the outside world, save for an oddly shaped
courtyard in the middle. It is clearly about creating a unique world on the inside that
is independent from what is going on around it. In many ways, this seems like a response
to the trauma of WWII, a safe bunker that can meet all your daily needs.
There are no rooms in the House of the future either. It exists as a string of spaces around
this central courtyard where interior spaces are closed off using sliding walls or through
storage placement. All of thes built-in storage elements as well as the walls take on rounded
and organic shapes to promote uninterrupted movement.
Everything is almost seamless and integrated within the wrapping plastic and plywood surfaces
that also integrate things like lighting. The space is amorphous and all encompassing
like a cave. This helps to strengthen the bunker metapher
Areas are designated by functions like cooking, eating, and sleeping. Highly specific and
technical solutions are featured for even the most mundane of activities. Some caught
on, others not. These include things like an after-shower body air-driers and telephone
message recorders.
In some ways, the building is conceived like the highly engineered spaces of a cruise ship
or like a car. The Smithsons owned a early VW beetle and its singularly curved shape
is thought to contribute to the design.
Of course, there are a host of limitations that come with this, as Rayner Banham noted
“A house designed like a car is at some disadvantage, for the appliances would be
so closely integrated into the structure, that to change the refrigerator would be like
getting a larger glove compartment in a ‘Volkswagen’ dashboard—it would be simpler to get a new
car.”31 The house becomes expendable, a throwaway object.
The oven and refrigerator are elevated to eye level for ease of monitoring while things
like the toilet and bathtub are built into the floor. The bathtub also has no real enclosure
and even protrudes into the courtyard, creating a strong connection with the exterior at that
point.
Different zoning over time. Diagram on plan
3D Model 3D Modeling the House of the Future took some
time. Even though its relatively small, every single part of the house is unique. A unique
shape in all directions. Curves everywhere. There is hardly a straight line in the house.
We have pretty extensive drawings for referrence and photographs to help interpret the architect’s
intentions. My partner Allison Newmeyer made this model and she really outdid herself here.
I know she was a big fan of this project and this model is absolutely incredible.
Exploration This model is built as the exhibition version
of the design rather than what it would have been like as a house. So, it has the walkway,
windows to look into it, and no roof so people can look down. It’s pretty amazing to see
this view from what the public would have seen in 1956. From there, the house looks
nicely composed, like a perfect stage set.
From inside, the house is much more closed off than I previously thought. Each room feels
much more distinct than I would have imagined from the plan alone.
From the dining room we see the kitchen and the courtyard. The table is built in and could
raise to different heights to be used for different purposes.
The kitchen is really gorgeous as well as all the storage, with each cabinet shape unique.
The way the materials change is really pretty too. Everything is this wrapping surface of
plastic, but it frames different materials like a blue curtain or a red sink, or bathtub.
The colors almost look floral.
Speaking of, there’s this funny little plastic bird on the counter edge that straddles the
courtyard.
The bathtub is red and sticks out into the courtyard too. That would have have been pretty
strange bathing basically in the floor, and half outside. The shower looks like it would
have been intense.
The changing area is really cool with all the shapes and enveloped in blue velvet curtains.
It kind of feels like I’m in an episode of the Jetsons.
The bed is actually quite private even through there are no doors. The way the shapes overlap
makes it difficult to see in.
The whole house is very Maze-like, it has us weaving between the outer wall and up against
the interior courtyard at all times. It’s clearly not meant for this kind of looping
tour.
Conclusion It’s interesting that from experiencing
the 3D model, I can tell this is a design for a model home and not a real one. You can
tell its designed to be seen from above, that’s not just due to the house’s absurdity. It’s
certainly absurd. But as a design exercise you can tell certain views are privileged
over others. I learned a lot by exploring this project and I hope you did too.
Don’t forget to check the link that allows you to walk around the house down in the subscription.
While you’re there, please consider giving the video a like and subscribe to the channel
if you are so inclined. Membership to the channel offers various perks like being able
to download the 3d models of the houses. Everything helps, this stuff takes a ton of work and
all your engagement is great. You’ll also be joining these lovely folks. Let’s discuss
your thoughts about the house in the discussion section and if you enjoyed this video you
might also enjoy these others. And every week we’ll be dropping videos on Thursday morning.
See you then!