Hmmm, that "System 3" sure looks like an 'Apple' product.

are they seriuos?! Those things already look outdated, old school, nothing modern about them. Man... I hope this is a fad that is short lived. I'd HATE to see a full neighberhood of these oversized dumpster looking things.

Basically - YUCK...

What these designers of futuristic cars and homes need to do is make something that people TODAY want.

Most of the concept cars I look at that promise all sorts of new features are so ugly I wouldn't even consider them with a 2008 internal combustion engine. Give me a normal car with futuristic drivetrains please.

Same goes for the housing. What I want is a craftsman style home. Normal layout, normal size. Give me one with futuristic features hidden throught the home that make it MORE useable and more efficient. Give me hidden features like automatic windows that link to the thermostat. When in the summer the weather is cool enough, the windows will open to allow cool night air into the house and then automatically close in the morning or in times of rain. Give me a house with solar that is hidden in the roof shingles. Give me creative storage solutions that are hidden throughout the house such as closets that are hidden by bookcases or entertainment centers. Give me automatic drapes that close or open to help maintain temps in the house. Give me ground loop heating/cooling.

These are the kinds of features that separate concepts from reality. Concepts are only good for chin scratching. What I want are products that make 2008 better than 2001. Things which I can incorporate into my life and make life easier, more stylist, and more efficient. Don't forget durability too.

Those have got to be the ugliest things I've ever seen.

Designers need to get it into their heads that the majority of people don't want ugly products. If I had to face something as hideous as those "houses" every day, I might just lose my will to live.

Fritz, I think you are missing the point. These designers (home and auto) are pushing the limits of design to make things better. Take, for example, the Aptera. If you read commentary from Steve Fambro (co-founder), he gets very specific about needing to start from scratch to achieve his goals. Of course he could have slapped an electric motor into a Honda Civic and called it good, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to design and engineer a vehicle that would be better than anything else on the market. He skipped over the baby steps (baby steps = what our beloved GM and Ford are doing) and went for it. We need to be able to do the same with our home designers/builders/contractors.

If we don’t have new ingenuity in our home design we will never better ourselves or our society. Don’t get me wrong; as I type this, I am sitting in a home built in the wonderful old home built in the 20’s. But if we don’t push the limits we will never see the future of design and ingenuity. And one must remember that new ideas can always be implemented into the existing. Don’t dismiss the design until you understand the details, I’m positive that the architect thought it thru a million times over (design school does that to you).
- Kansas State College of Architecture and Design Graduate

I'm gonna have to agree with Fritz here: all that nifty design is fun to look at, but if designers want to SELL, they need to make changes slower. Yes, you'll always have those few who go out and buy the super-modern home with the furniture, and you never see a mess in it. But you'll never sell it to those of us who have the reality of families and messes and comfy furniture with SOLID looking construction. I feel the same way with cars as well - oh sure, your new design for a two-door two-seater electric car LOOKS sleek and nice, but you miss out on the whole market of families who would buy your car because you fail to put a backseat into it. Now, if one were to START with the electric Civic, THEN change the design to be more futuristic, you might get more takers. If home designers want to bring green prefabs to the average buyer, they need to make it look a little less breakable and a little more traditional. Parents don't want to worry that their child will run through the house, slide on the tile/wood floor, hit the wall, and then fall through it. And if you've never noticed how flimsy a pre-fab trailer-style home is, let's just say that the walls are not strong enough to hold up to most GIRLS goofing off, much less boys - I've seen plenty of holes in walls of those homes in my short life of 27 years.

They look nice, imagine one on top of a green hill.. Of wait, didn't we want to live together in a dense, optimal city?

Just remember to make them float, it'll save you when the sea level rises to cleanse the earth.

To Fritz. First off, I want most of those houses, you are still stuck in the past.

The fact is there is a whole generation of people who see the automobile as an outdated concept, or the 2000 m^2 house as just a a wonton disregard for Earth and just embarresing.

Keep on living in the 1980s. Reagen would be proud.

Syera: please do, stop living.

Love the design, especially the micro house.

XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

I was very involved with the execution of this project and I have a few things to point out.

1. Larry Sass's house for New Orleans will comfort those of you who yearn for the days of ole. That is not to say the MIT house is not forward looking. The method of construction is truely inventive and forward looking, only two people built it in 3 weeks and hardly any waste was produced nor enegry consumed during construction. The style is modifibale but Larry decided to build it in the stly eof a New Orleans shotgun house, ornament and all.

2. The others are contemporary. They too were built (delivered) on site in a matter of weeks, in the case of two of them within hours. These represent prototypes showing off the latest in digital fabrication and erection techniques. This is not a dealership for houses, no one is trying to sell these to museum visitors. They are full scale ideas that we hope will inspire others to reconsider how a house can be made, stlye is irrelevant.

3. Go see the show and make sure you check out the blog to see how these were built.

Thank You

Bah, more boxes. It would be great if they tried making circle homes instead. The wind slides off the outer walls easier than it does with box like shapes.

And I thought the ugly buildings of the 70s were behind us.

Oh well...

Shaka:
where do u put all the furniture you already have in a round house? square furniture does not fit against a round wall, let alone hanging anything like are or cabinets.

In reguards to the look of the houses, you have to think that they designers were no looking to make:

1. mc mansions.
2. post modern Styrofoam (ie best buy).
3. fake historic doll houses (with the exception of the new Orleans thing.)

If the above three are your thing, you will not like these.

It is called 'Modernism'....look it up, this is at the Museum of 'Modern' Art.

y_gogolak
Most round houses have the furniture build into them to fit the round aspects of the house.

And it is NOT difficult to find rounded furniture. and you can fit square furniture into a circle as well.

The cabinets would be built into the wall already.

I happen to think some of these are really beautiful. Good modern design doesn't have to be sterile, but done properly it can expand one's conception of what a home is.

I like them, not so much for family living but for student accomodation or couples. They're small so there wouldn't be heaps of cleaning to do and it's not like uni students have furniture they want to move in with so that wouldn't be an issue. They would also be good for this because you could fit lots of them onto a student accomodation campus or something. I don't really know how much they would cost though. I wouldn't like to live in one all my life but they seem perfect for getting me through a few years of uni.

UGLY.

Six out of six designs took their inspiration from a shoe box.

None have integrated solar panels.
None have integrated solar water heating.
None look to have advanced passive solar technology.
None look like they have any advanced green technology at all, not even good insulation.

What are they?
Small.

And UGLY.

I'm a big fan of modern architecture, but I must say some of these are absolutely hideous, specifically the first house. Being modern doesn't mean to throw out all sense of style and just make everything look like a shoe box with holes in it. The cold dull gray concrete exterior of System 3, makes me think of a prison or industrial building, not exactly a warm and inviting home. Maybe it'd work for the pod people, but I'd dread living in a place like that.