The Netherlands instituted an experimental architecture program in the 1960s so they could have more interesting houses. It's a great idea, because nothing is more boring and depressing than a suburb full of cookie cutter homes so alike that you have to look at the numbers to find your own. Some interesting ideas came of the program, and in 1984, the spherical house was launched. Now, you can probably think of several reasons why a spherical house won't work, but there's more! So what did they do with all these spherical houses? Let poor people live in them! I suppose it's better than no housing projects at all, but still. And now you see why designers and architects have different training and careers, and if they collaborate, they must plat devil's advocate with each other. Tom Scott tells the story of the Netherlands' spherical houses.
Housing bubble
ReplyDeleteWorks for people living out of a shopping cart with no furniture or excess baggage.
ReplyDeleteNot as efficient as an apartment building but eliminates the common space friction problems in elevators and hallways. Have to be built at low elevations in earthquake zones.