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I was hoping to get a discussion going on how current trends and technology will alter the way our homes look/function in another hundred years.
Sure, this kind of thing is almost invariably wrong... but damn, it's fun!
Plus, the things we imagine and work for today will become the "standard equipment" of tomorrow. We are making the world of 2112 as we speak. Such innovations will directly play into how we design the environments we are going to live in. Plus, "planned obsolescence" and current building techniques/standards will mean the vast majority of everything built in the last 60 years will need to be rebuilt before 2100, so we'd best start thinking about what we are gonna replace today's built environment with.
Here are some developing trends that I think will dramatically alter the home as we know it today:
Integral, invisible technology/entertainment
In the future there will be no separate tech devices apart from what you can carry with you in your pocket. You computer will be part of the HVAC equipment; there will be no entertainment centers or clock radios.
Interface will be "at will" from any room in the house. TV screens will be everywhere in the form of "wallpaper" that can serve as background decor or a complete multimedia wall display when desired. There will be no DVDs or hardcopies of movies/music/videogames/ect; everything will be downloaded and stored on a home's (unimaginably huge by today's standards) hard drive.
Home Entertainment in the future will make today's best movies and video games just as quaint as silent films are today.
Video games will be practically indistinguishable from reality and whole virtual worlds will be built online. It will be possible to get a chip installed in your brain that will allow to directly access them too a la "The Matrix", though "old fashioned" folks will make do with motion control, voice command, "wallpaper" TV screens, TV contact lenses and so forth. Tens of millions of people will spend a majority of their lives "plugged in" to the virtual universe and spend even less time in the "real world" both for work and play.
The End of private vehicle ownership?
I think we'll still be riding everywhere on 4 wheels in 2112, but self-driving cars will make it very economical to rent on a "per use" basis.
When you need to go somewhere, just order your car online! It will show up at your door and go back to the rental lot by itself when your'e done... no maintenance, no car payment, no fuel costs and all at only a fraction of the price it would cost you to keep a car of your own in the garage.
Obviously, you will be able to pick the right car for the right job too... order a pickup to move furniture, van to haul 10 kids to a birthday party or splurge on a fancy sports car to go on a date!
A wireless world...
In a hundred years, the wire itself will be obsolete. It will be possible to beam electricity though the air from a central power device to various home appliances and possibly to the homes directly from orbiting solar power stations that receive a constant flow of energy from the sun.
There will be no wires in the walls, no plugs, no switches. Batteries will be capable of instantly being charged in only seconds. There will be no telephone land lines either.
What does it all mean for the future home?
With no need to keep a private car, garages will become extinct. Family/media rooms will be as useful as a 19th century double Parlor and open kitchens may go away with them. Homes are getting smaller today but they could go either way over the next century... or more likely grow and shrink as trends change like they did in the previous century.
Having access to seemingly infinite virtual worlds could mean there will be little psychological reason for a shelter consisting of more than a box with a pod and intravenous feeder or there could be a backlash against the virtual and strong demand for something real...perhaps even near-exact copies of historic, pre-industrial homes and lifestyles.
More than likely there will be a little bit of both and the majority will settle in somewhere in the middle.
What do you think the future holds?
Last edited by Chango; 06-12-2012 at 10:26 AM..
Reason: spelling
When you posted this the first time it got me thinking about all the
"house of tomorrow" stuff we used to see in the 50s and 60s.
Gonna have to go see if anyone has rounded all those old film clips up.
It would be interesting to see what has come to pass, as well as what has not, and then to contrast it with what you have posted here.
When you posted this the first time it got me thinking about all the
"house of tomorrow" stuff we used to see in the 50s and 60s.
Gonna have to go see if anyone has rounded all those old film clips up.
It would be interesting to see what has come to pass, as well as what has not, and then to contrast it with what you have posted here.
I too was thinking along the lines of kshe95 -- and 100 years is so very much further out than 50,60 years of "tommorowland" of the past.
Heck the way I look at things I see more in common with 150 year old homes than "out of step". Carriage house / barns have become garages, kitchens have grown in prominence, as have baths, but all those elements are still very much identifiable in older homes. HVAC is a huge comfort item that really makes the whole country inhabitable instead of the rare spots where shore breezes cooled the summers and warded off bitter winters. Technology changes and morphs awfully quickly put the parlors of the past that may have proudly had a big piano, Victorola, RCA radio or console TV as central still have iPod docks and flat panels so that the whole family and guests can share and experience. It would be sad if everyone was all holed in thier own "media carrell" and not interacting...
I think the potential for better building products to deliver more energy efficient homes is probably the single area that will drive the most innovation -- regardless of whether we try to force windmills and solar into a role they cannot fill the need to use less power will be met with better insulation , bettter appliances and better ways of having systems manage cost and comfort.
I'm probably a bit biased but I see my 100 year-old bungalow (and turn of the century architecture in general) as being more suitable for my imagined future than a modern new home is today.
Plus, while I don't believe the past repeats itself I do belive that things go in cycles and the future will "rhyme" with the past.
The only things I've seen change in housing in the past 100 yrs. is the increase in building codes and the decrease in character and workmanship; the separation between what is practical and what is desirable; and the impact of the increase of married women working outside the home.
Meals have become easier and quicker to make but the kitchen has become a more prominent, more used room of the house...while Americans have become increasingly overweight.
Libraries and music rooms (parlors) have all but disappeared...while Americans have become increasingly ignorant and untalented.
Most new houses can be best described as "a two car garage with attached, two-storied foyer".
I would like to think, in the next 100yrs., an anti-technology backlash will cause residential architecture to facilitate inter-personal relationships, self-improvement, and increased pride and participation in the design and upkeep of one's own home.
The only things I've seen change in housing in the past 100 yrs. is the increase in building codes and the decrease in character and workmanship; the separation between what is practical and what is desirable; and the impact of the increase of married women working outside the home.
Meals have become easier and quicker to make but the kitchen has become a more prominent, more used room of the house...while Americans have become increasingly overweight.
Libraries and music rooms (parlors) have all but disappeared...while Americans have become increasingly ignorant and untalented.
Most new houses can be best described as "a two car garage with attached, two-storied foyer".
I would like to think, in the next 100yrs., an anti-technology backlash will cause residential architecture to facilitate inter-personal relationships, self-improvement, and increased pride and participation in the design and upkeep of one's own home.
It's a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" question, but I wonder if we build our homes to mirror our cultural values (or lack thereof) or if our homes subtly influence and direct our cultural values by living in them?
On thing is for certain though... there is a direct correlation. Good post!
Seriously? Anti-technology backlash facilitating inter-personal relationships? On this planet? Where?
Quote:
Originally Posted by LIGuy1202
The only things I've seen change in housing in the past 100 yrs. is the increase in building codes and the decrease in character and workmanship; the separation between what is practical and what is desirable; and the impact of the increase of married women working outside the home.
Meals have become easier and quicker to make but the kitchen has become a more prominent, more used room of the house...while Americans have become increasingly overweight.
Libraries and music rooms (parlors) have all but disappeared...while Americans have become increasingly ignorant and untalented.
Most new houses can be best described as "a two car garage with attached, two-storied foyer".
I would like to think, in the next 100yrs., an anti-technology backlash will cause residential architecture to facilitate inter-personal relationships, self-improvement, and increased pride and participation in the design and upkeep of one's own home.
Seriously? Anti-technology backlash facilitating inter-personal relationships? On this planet? Where?
How about: Building stuff that communicates our intention to be solid, true and reliable members of the community who have an eye for beauty, are concerned for what lies beyond our property line and look to the future while still paying homage to our past?
Somehow, a cultured stone and vinyl-clad faux "historic" facade dominated by a huge blank garage door, with no attention given to proper proportion, a porch that is too narrow to sit on and a backside that is best hidden behind a tall fence and cheap flowering pear trees fails to communicate that message.
Prewar homes on the other hand were all about trying to communicate that type of message... silently and perhaps more idealistically than the reality was, but at least they tried. I suppose technology is the logical villain in this story since it was technological advancement that took us away from that, but all things come full-circle eventually.
I hope for a future with both technology and community... and neighborhood buildings that actually encourage community, aesthetics and a certain amount of idealism instead of crushing and destroying them.
TV screens will be everywhere in the form of "wallpaper" that can serve as background decor or a complete multimedia wall display when desired.
This technology is already in the works. Corning Inc calls it "Willow Glass" and it's intent is to allow for wrapping displays along curved or non-flat surfaces, etc.
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What evidence is there of any such "backlash"?
