apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Unfortunately the article didn't give a mention to architect Marvin Goody, who was just out of MIT when he designed the house. I worked a short time at the firm that bears his name, and here's a great photo in the lobby of Marvin explaining the shape of the house to Walt Disney.

I'm certainly partial to non-artificial building materials as well, but is there something necessarily wrong with a house that's nearly indestructible? I mean, sure, plastic water bottles are clogging our landfills, but presumably a house is meant to last for a significant amount of time, and in areas where natural disasters regularly occur and tear down all sorts of previously believed to be sturdy buildings, perhaps a house that can't be torn down so easily isn't the worst thing in the world.

Of course, the hideous 1960s "futuristic" design leaves much to be desired...

I like the shape. And there's nothing automatically "wrong" with artificial materials.

As for warm and cozy, anyone who has taken a first year graphic arts class knows that rounded shapes are more warm and cozy that the glorified boxes posted so often here as "stunning".

Could we please have less editorializing?

Or are we all supposed to be unthinking clones of the editors?

Settle down, Boomer. Reading someone else's opinion does not make you into an unthinking clone, it makes you someone exposed to opinions that differ from yours.

I agree that the house looks pretty cool in the picture.

OH...sorry for going off. I must have forgotten my meds today. ;->

watch these fabulous movies of "a vision of the future where a young family is transported from the linup outside, into the future, where they live in the house with all its plastic wonders;
a glimpse of carefree futuristic living inside a plastic-walled floating cruciform structure with picture phones, height-adjustable sinks, dishes washed by ultrasonic waves, and atomic food preservation."

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/it_was_fifty_ye.php

my mom used to visit this house at DL and still talks about it.

We had a similar house near where I grew up in Rochester, NY. Whenever we were in the area, I begged my father to drive by. I fantasized about living there. Here's a link. It's the one on the right...one more click gets you another pic or two. Ahhh, memories of the mushroom house...

http://www.wxxi.org/houses/houses_1/morehouses1.htm

I dont mind hearing the opinion of the editors, but there's no explanation behind it. WHY exactly is plastic bad to build a home from? Because it's durable? And I dont know why this is any less "warm" than anything built by Wright or Eames. Since when is "warm" automatically a desireable thing, anyway? It sure isn't a term I usually hear in connection to any modernist architecture, real or imagined.

The idea behind something like this is that it shows possibilities, optimism, and imagination... not a consensus on what life in the future would necessarily be. I think I could be very happy in a cool looking house like this!

If this was built today, from totally recycled plastic, would it be a bad thing, still? I know that does not address "cradle to cradle" in the most thorough of ways, but still.

I think this house still looks sweet and groovy, but I am a huge fan of the idyllic future always envisioned (and at the heart of) Walt Disney's creations. And love that Disney's mode has always been (and still is) to bring innovative architecture to his parks, hotels, and offices.

re: "Could we please have less editorializing?"

THAT made me laugh.

i think it's totally awesome! i would LOVE to have and live in that house.

I really like this house. Maybe there's a little too much plastic, but there's real innovation here and sturdiness is something I wish caught on.
When can I move in?

Much cuter than the modern boxes often showcased here.

Health issues of plastic aside, as far as style goes I am a huge fan of the space age look of the 60's, so I love the house. Though personally I like balancing it out with some natural woods. I agree that curves and circles are more appealing and comforting to me than straight lines. Something of the effect of the being in a womb I suppose.

A house that is not only appeared to be very sustainable, but even though it was made decades ago it's design is still enjoyed by many today... I would say that is a recipe for great design.

I'm totally surprised Disney didn't eBay it.

Love, love, love this house and there is no reason it couldn't be "warm and cozy" considering its scale. I would much rather live in this version of the future than the sub-divided, McMansioned, Pottery Barned version we (largely) have.

Needless to say, I love this house. Too bad I never got to LA in time it see it (the house and I are of the same vintage -- '57)

BUT, I did love the Formica House at the '64-'65 NY World's Fair. Everything was SO much more modern and hopeful then -- I miss that optimism.

Haven't been able to dig up any links to fotos of the Formic House -- but here's a taste of the 64-65 Fair:

http://www.westland.net/ny64fair/map-docs/technology.htm

patrick, um...the house came down in 1967.

slash...me too! And I'd rather ride around on people movers and monorails than sit in L.A. traffic as well.

Um... does vinyl siding ring a bell with anyone? I would much rather have a house built with plastic that actually looks like plastic, than a house built with plastic that is stamped to look like wood grain. We should keep in mind that 99% of new single family residential construction these days utilizes large quantities of landfill clogging vinyl siding.

I think this is a fabulous house that does a lot with a small footprint. I am not sure how energy efficient something like this would be, but I'll bet it would stand up to a hurricane much better than some wood frame and vinyl siding McMansion. And the compact size of each of the "wings" lends itself well to prefabrication.

Love it! Too bad they knocked it down. Did they need room for another golf course? It reminds me of Woody Allen's suburban landscape in the 1973 film "Sleeper." I'm not sure about how dangerous the totally artificial house is to your health, but in his version of the future, cigarettes were good for you.

I love this house! You can't tell me this is any less "cozy" than the ZenKaya prefab house featured earlier today.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/country-house/zenkaya-prefab-houses-029350

Patrick - OK, point taken.

I gotta say, a lot of "green" posts on AT disappoint me (I'm sorry! I like the design-related ones!). Like a lot of readers have already questioned, why are plastics bad? First of all, let's not generalize because there are so many kinds. Also, we can't forget how useful they have been for mankind. Yes, there may be health hazards depending on the type of plastic and how it is produced. This is true of naturally occuring materials as well. In fact, certain types of plastics are used in laboratories and hospitals because they are bio-compatible.

In terms of waste, plastics are only a problem when they outlive their useful lifetime by a lot. It is unfortunate that this is often true. There are people working on designing new plastics to solve this problem. On the other hand, it's ok if a house that is meant to last is made of nondegrading materials.

Jyo Jyo--

Missed that fact... even though it was big and bold!!! Oops!

But they woulda if they coulda!!!

The fact that you don't hear "warm" attached to the Modern style is fairly often one of the pivotal points of criticism about those very examples you cite.

And as to why is "warm" good... would you be okay if someone described you as "cold"?

Actually, Jyo Jyo, it syas the house was visited until 1967 but it is not clear (at least to me) when the house was demolished. Weak defense, but one nonetheless!

And some of those pics in the link really show how the house could have been breathtaking and quite stunning while still representing a friendly future, and not a sci-fi one that would scare the beejeezus out of people.

But as far as visitors getting cancer from the place, I'm guessing visitors from that era were heavy smokers. And heavy users of hairspray, living happily among the asbestos tiles, among other things.

Monsanto.. hmm.. arent they the corrupt corporation that supply farmers with bovine hormones that ends up in milk in the US??
yug... no good can come from anything associated with them.. (says the Canadian who drinks hormone free milk)

This house has a wonderful retro mod Jetson's look to it, and I would love to live in it. I wish they moved it instead of tearing it down. I've liked what interior photos and drawings I've seen of it too, especially the arrangement of the kitchen. Unlike most houses, no long useless hallways. I'm house nuts, and this has always been one of my favorites.

ODing on all plastic could have been easily remedied by some wood cabinets or flooring. The only reason they made it all plastic was to show it could be done, and because Monsanto was manufacturing new plastic materials. Most of the carpeting in most homes now is plastic, and even an $80,000 German Steinway piano is veneered with plastic, and has plastic covered keys instead of ivory.

Except for house exteriors -- many which would fare better if made like this one -- there are plastics everywhere and I don't think they were off in their vision of the lotsa "plastics" future. The hours in my life that I've spent typing on a plastic keyboard, and I've never once considered that it would be nicer if it were made out of titanium, velvet, or granite. So why get materials snobby about a house? On the other hand, I don't like plastic clothes, and although THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE came with closets of them, you really could wear your own clothes, if you bought a house like that.

I think an egg is one of the most beautiful shapes there is, and anything that is rounded is kind of cool. My flat roof sags, ponds, and leaks, and I've got a black mold situation and I wish for a house that has a roof like that of the THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE. Unlike Dymaxion house, it was well insulated too.

Like Dymaxion house, it makes use of the efficient idea of utilities coming up through a core, and being on a pedestal like that, you wouldn't have to worry about people breaking in the large windows to enter the house, or being flooded. And yup, I was in an apartment long ago that flooded in a heavy rain.

Granted, it is a bit funny looking. It isn't ugly though and most homes are ugly, and have no beauty in symmetry, proportion or line.