Monsanto House of the Future
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.27.05
When this treehugger was just a sprout, he received a Life Science Library book on plastics that featured the Monsanto House of the Future, and was entranced and inspired.
The House of the Future was one a number of fairground houses of the future that never made it off the grounds and into the marketplace. Designed by MIT, it opened in 1957. Quoting
Metropolis : visitors were treated to 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. "It was the permanence, the durability of plastic that made the Monsanto house a marvel," writes Bernard Cooper in his book Maps to Anywhere. "The wings, it was said, would never sag. The plastic floor would never buckle, chip, or crack." At the time, 30 percent of Monsanto's business was in plastics, synthetic resins, and surface coatings.
By 1967 the design was considered dated and Monsanto's motto "Better Living through Chemistry" had taken on other meanings.
After attracting a total of 20 million visitors from 1957 to 1967, Disney finally tore the house down, but discovered it would not go down without a fight.
According to Monsanto Magazine, wrecking balls literally bounced off the glass-fiber, reinforced polyester material. Torches, jackhammers, chain saws and shovels did not work. Finally, choker cables were used to squeeze off parts of the house bit by bit to be trucked away.
read ::Monsanto+MIT+Plastic
and watch the trailer for the movie at::extinct attractions via ::archinect by [LA]
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Monsatan can do no right.
That's pretty cool. Impressive that it was so durable, even if it was ugly. Too bad it couldn't be recycled in some way.
The documentary "Home Movie" DVD contains an archival "Monsanto House of the Future" promo. Home Movie was a terrific and entertaining doc all by itself, but the promo was fascinating!
Home Movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275408/
i wont to live in one! =O
When I was a kid I walked through the Home of The Future at Disneyland when it first opened, and could hardly wait to grow up and own one!
It was amazing - I also wanted a hovercraft in the garage to go with it!