The New Home
I came across this quick opinion piece, which describes the winning design of a solar-powered, climate- and function-adaptable home.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/this-new-house/
While the idea of limiting our resource use in building and using houses is certainly necessary, some of the descriptions of this design make me question whether the reality of limited resources will make us question our definition of "home." For example, "its movable walls break down the barrier between inside and outside, making a small interior feel larger;... it features pre-fabricated expansion rooms, so it can grow and shrink with a family’s needs." It almost seems as though this design proposes changing the function of a home by changing its relationship with its surroundings and removing the limitations of a fixed space. Would this feel like a comfortable and safe home or a convenient event space?
It is also significant, though perhaps not unexpected, that the design depicts an isolated house on a green space. Features like movable walls and expansion rooms would not be accessible to the majority of the population living on urban land.
The article also pointed to an interactive film about the design (which is a bit eerie, to say the least): http://www.lumenhaus.com/eu/experience/index.html
I honestly find it difficult to imagine living in such a "home." I feel that homes in the modern trend have been desired in a private manner following the saying "my home is my castle." I find that this construction would not seem appealing to the majority of America seeking to own the typical single-family house in the burbs with a yard and two-car garage. The benefits such a construction offer to the environment are clearly exponential and revolutionary but most people feel safe in a home that separates them from the crazy world of work, school, crime and the public life in general. The transparency that this house is dependent upon by nature will cause much alarm to todays potential homeowners. I know a friend whose house is built mostly out of glass and seems to follow many of the eco-friendly efforts of this one, and I absolutely did not feel a sense of concrete structure I find in my house when I slept over. I feel like my sentiments--however close-minded and/or natural--are representative of a large portion of a society that really isn't ready for quite a foreign idea of "home."
