House of the future is an elusive idea. It encompasses anything and eludes everything. It is technological and anachronistic. Technological because it was created by man. Anachronous because it is used by man. It is characterized by paradoxes. It has no interior. Or a twist is possible: all that makes it up is the interior. The house of the future is created once a day. Change is what makes it constant; it accepts incidentallity. State out of control and state in equilibrium. Also, it is decomposed once a day. The state of disappearance is the state to which it aspires. The house of the future is the house of upcoming technologies. Virtual space is an integral part of it`s metaworld. But it is constructed from natural materials: concrete, steel, wood, stone, glass, etc. It is Andrea Branzi's sensorial cathedral.* It is Superstudio's Continuous Monument.* In the house of the future, there is interaction and exchange of ideas: in the physical and virtual sense. It flows with the natural environment it is surrounded by; it is nature itself. The borders of the transition are unclear. The house of the future is a transformation of the typical house* of today. All cities and cultures of the world contain their typical house. Because of this, the house of the future transcends individual culture. Regardless, it is very contextual. The house of the future is simultaneously Mediterranean, Alpine, European, American, African and Asian. Adaptable to all contexts. The transformation of the house of the future is a gradual dismantling of the current zero state; from the obviously binary one; open-closed to a whole range of intermediate states; part glazed - part masonry, part covered - part exposed, part artificial - part part of nature. Architects of today, saved by function; manifested through all scales; in the house of the future, will be saved by its adaptability. Streaming of space will suggest program group streaming; unclear transitions between what is now clearly defined: the bedroom; living room, street, city. Small, medium, large, extra large.
The house of the future is tolerant. It accepts anything and adopts everything. All generational groups. It is a house for a single person as much as for a large family. For children and adults. The ability to foster is her basic setting. Interweaving the above as well. If the house is for a single person, then it can take on miniature proportions. If it is for the family, then hypertrophied. It can contain both; parts of the house can be reduced to the size of a bathroom, parts to the size of a hall. It is tolerant because it accepts people of various cultures and ethnic groups. Regardless of their religious, racial and ideological affiliations. It is a melting pot on a small scale. It transcends current and future conflicts of nations. Its goal is eternal optimism, regardless of its final outcome. The house of the future has many faces. One thing makes her small. Second to the big one. Sometimes it is monumental, sometimes modest. It is made of elements of architecture; wall, column, beam, membrane and garden. By changing, permeating and changing the scale, these elements change their role. It is threefold: structure, program, folie. The ambivalence of the structure of the house becomes its fundamental feature. The house is a city/room/garden. The house of the future is Rossi's Locomotiva*. It exists as an open field, we read it as a diagram. The face of the house is defined by its opposites. Large miniature, asymmetrically symmetrical, structurally temple-like. The house of the future is Peter Eisenman's Canneregio Town Square*. Singularity denies plurality, indeterminacy confirms the perimeter, and the non-hierarchy of the elements used is opposed to the apparent center. The inside is permeated with the outside. Dimension is the key. The house of the future can be created on the border. The border is the intersection. A meeting of people, space and culture. The border is a metaphor for transition. Transition is a moment of abandonment and affirmation. One culture flows into another. Each element of the house has an architectural and cultural characteristic. The house of the future is John Hejduk's House Wall House*. Historical references in the house of the future are not accidental, but deeply rooted in the culture of the project. Like the new archaeology, the fragments dominate and define the project. Density (program/ architectural elements) in one plane becomes the basis and fundamental feature. Changing the dimensions of the elements meets the needs of people from different cultures. The diversity of elements, and the oscillation of both scale and form is emphasized. In the house of the future, the ambivalence of the architectural space and the cultural/social character are emphasized and affirmed. The coexistence of architectural elements hints at tolerance in the social sense. The border disappears.
The house of the future is the house of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence will redefine public space. In the near future, the population will increase radically, and the need for public space will become more pronounced. Artificial intelligence will find zones vital to the breakdown of the urban fabric, freeing up space for new scenarios. The disintegration of the urban fabric will be radical, and only the most vital structures will survive. New spatial connections, unimaginable today, will be created. Unachievable. The hypersensitive surfaces of the house of the future will register diverse cultural characteristics. It will create different ways of use and will propose a new kind of community. Through proposals for floor plan organization, creation of microclimate and reorganization of green areas, the house will contribute to the new society. The hypersensitive surface will be creative. The sensitivity of it will recognize the sensitivity of the individual. Tolerance will be achieved through personal wishes. Also, the character of the surface will be of different nature (rough, slippery, smooth...) and of an always changing nature, depending on various types of programs (sport / business / public space). The human need for activity, encounter and tolerance can take on a new dimension. Through the creation of different types of climates, fragrant ambiences, many cultures will revive their meaning, and the house of the future with the use of artificial intelligence will truly realize the metropolitan spirit of the times to come. What Nolli's map* was to its time, the house (city) of the future will be to its own; a new map of available and unavailable, public and private. What Piranesi's Campo Marzio* was for its time, the house (city) of the future will be for its own; a conceptual manifestation of collages of typologies displaced from their imagined locality, changed scale and time of creation. The typologies it covers are numerous; from private to public; from the family house to the town square. The triad will be present: place - size - time.
The house of the future is the house of the environment. Natural but also designed. Flowing one into the other and erasing a clear border will be its basic property. Everything is nature, whether real or designed. The house of the future understands and accepts this. The house of the future is a paradoxical mix of architectural styles; ancient, vernacular, modern, high tech and deconstructivist, etc. But this does not mean that it denies the history of architecture. It is historical, modern and contemporary at the same time. Not referential with its symbolism, it loses its symbolic charge. Indeed, the house of the future is a house without style. For the pluralism of references, style dies in it. It is what the user wants it to be. He can handle everything. The house of the future is certainly also a shelter; from undesirable influences; from natural ones - rain, sun, wind; to the consequent ones: the noise of vehicles, the murmur of people, etc. Through its transformation, it did not lose the basic elements that make it up: a column, a beam, a wall, a roof, a window, a door and a staircase. On the contrary, it will encourage the development of materials and new construction technologies. By gradually deconstructing the existing houses, the process of layering them towards the outer space will be encouraged. Each floor plan of the house of the future will trigger a characteristic set of transformation actions. New elements, such as the abstract structure of the greenhouse, reinforced concrete walls, transparencies, translucent and solid elements will penetrate the structure of the house and thus change the previous relations between the outside and the inside. The house will merge with the plot's garden, and the clear border will disappear. Also, the city as we know it will gradually disappear. The form of architecture, a relative phenomenon, will accommodate the new demands of the times. The size of the architecture will change its spatial power. Physical changes will reflect on social ones.
The house of the future is rationally designed. It was designed with available resources and acceptable construction technology from the immediate surroundings. Depending on the location, the house of the future will be different everywhere. Also, during design, it can be created by overlapping discarded and unused structural elements of abandoned buildings: worn steel profiles, massive wooden beams, cracked concrete walls and rusted virendel supports. Building material from unused, abandoned and dilapidated buildings can become a new ready-made element when designing new architectural structures. On the contrary, they differ greatly in their size and purpose, and will become input data when designing a new architecture. By using the mentioned building elements that differ in material, dimension and shape, a whole spectrum of possible spatial connections is created and new aspects of use are revealed. The house of the future is based on today's aspirations of sustainability, recycling, social values, but also on correct architectural intentions. The house of the future is created on the fine line between chance and intention. It is intuitively designed.
The house of the future is a house that does not work from today's perspective. Thus, it provides a new spatial and physical experience. Elements of which it is made; walls, beams and columns, doors and windows, electrical and plumbing installations and furniture in a new, previously unseen relationship. It suggests a new form of use and living. The house of the future can be one-room, with one door, without windows, kitchen, dining room and living room. With a bed and an open toilet. It can be completely glazed, completely empty, without furniture. In the manner of Mies van der Rohe's idea of space. Also, the house of the future can be a house without a roof, completely open to the sky; where the sun, wind, rain and other climatic factors radically affect all activities within it; it can be tropical hot or arctic cold. The house of the future also offers a tactile experience. The house of the future can be defined only by furniture, without columns, walls, beams and roof. Immersed in the natural environment. The house of the future is translucent, transparent or opaque. The walls can be straight, slanted or curved. Paradoxes are what mark her. The house of the future is a programming lion. Its contents are not fixedly marked. They flow into each other. The time factor is crucial; through the year, month, week, day, hour; the contents will constantly fluctuate. Of course, there will be a time without the presence of man and events. The house of the future belongs as much to the conceptual sphere as to the real one. Conceptual because it still does not exist, but it is imaginable. For real, because it will soon exist and take on real contours. The house of the future may remain physically unchanged compared to today's. But human behavior will change in front of her. Technological progress will encourage this. The house of the future will be creative. Or its segments. The adaptable nature of the user will become a permanent state. At the same time, the architecture of the house of the future will be suggestive; will suggest unexpected activities to the user; arrangement of floor plan organization, use of materials...
In the house of the future, thickenings and dilutions are constantly intertwined. At first glance, it seems without rules, but the concept of the house of the future is very clear. Spaces are variable; narrow, wide, constricted, small, large, gigantic. Thus, it suggests a possible content. Movement of people. Their behavior. The materiality of the elements it is made of: columns, walls, ceiling and beams also pulsates. It's tactile. At the same time, it is a house for a blind person and a very visual person. The house of the future responds to the heterogeneity of the city. Rather, it is an integral part of the built environment. The house of the future can be created anywhere. In the density of a generic city just as much as in untouched nature. The generic city is a new kind of fertile ground for its spontaneous creation. Unspoiled nature is the antithesis of the just mentioned. Driven by the same principle, in these two environments they will be completely different. If today the attitude is that urbanism does not exist, the house of the future will create a new urbanism. In the context of untouched nature, it will radicalize the phenomena present there. New urbanism will encourage the breakdown of the urban fabric, freeing up space for new scenarios; randomly selected fragments of the city that will be replaced by public spaces that float in the greenery, creating a community of each city. Sports fields, squares and parks. Gardens and promenades. The aforementioned desirable scenarios, caused by new public zones, will now be placed in unexpected relationships. Phenomena of untouched nature; sun, rain, wind, smells, in the house of the future will take on a new meaning; hypersensitivity to these phenomena will be its basic feature.
Instead of conclusion
Indeed, the house of the future is an elusive idea. All of the above are only attempts to expose its substance. A substance that is diverse and changeable depending on the context where it is created. Heidegger's concept of being* depicted in Van Gogh's pair of boots, and in the concept of a bridge in construction, as the idea of transition from one state to another, takes on a new meaning in the house of the future. Basically, the house of the future is completely primitive, and contains an almost unheard of simplicity, which with its appearance provides a surprisingly rich number of experiences; from use, tactility, new spatiality, connection with the external environment, to the reading of various semantic messages using an unpredictable layering of historical references. The house of the future arises from the current world crises: political, economic, migrant, ecological and health, which consequently lead to an identity crisis. It reacts to stimuli from the outside world and transforms them to its advantage. Like a programming language that handles an endless amount of data, it is constantly changing, upgrading. Once a day there is a new update - adapted and suggestive according to the needs of the user. Individual rooms of the house and the environment around it; living tract - sleeping tract - garden, become a polygon of endless possibilities of use. New forms of interaction. Unexpected spatial connections; in - out. At the border of technology and environmental awareness, it will suggest a new type of architecture. With its appearance, concrete will become sophisticated. The steel will acquire new mechanical properties. The glass will take on new properties. It will create a new nature. In the house of the future, there will be a systematic discovery of new elements of architecture that will enable unexpected panoramas of utility and uselessness, and unpredictable categories whose architectural use and purpose we have yet to guess.
Sources:
1. "Anthropocene". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins.
2. "Copernican twist" - Croatian encyclopedia, online edition. Miroslav Krleža Lexicographic Institute, 2021.
3."Superstudio" : Progetti E Pensieri." Domus 479 (1969): 38-[43].
4. "Locomotiva 2", Aldo Rossi, Luca Meda, and Gianugo Polesello, competition project for the business center in Turin, 1962. Fondazione Aldo Rossi © Aldo Rossi Heirs, © Luca Meda Heirs, © Gianugo Polesello Heirs./ - Lampariello, B., (2023) “The Architecture and the City of Aldo Rossi, 1955–69: The Analogical Locus vs Ambientalismo of the Building Fabric”, Architectural Histories 11(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ah.8278
5. Peter Eisenman, Cannaregio town square, Location: Venice, Italy, Year: 1978, https://eisenmanarchitects.com/Cannaregio-Town-Square-1978
6. Five Architects: Eisenman, Graves, Gwathmey, Hejduk, Meier. Oxford: Oxford University Press. in 1975
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10. Martin Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art (Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes), 1950, Reclam