House of the Future

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. For one week there are several projects and exhibitions you can visit in the city of Philips. I visited the Design Academy and the Klokgebouw at Strijp S. For me as heritage and architecture student, these buildings were interesting, because they were redeveloped. But the building which struck me most was a tiny house placed next to the Klokgebouw. It was the end of the day and I was quite tired, but this project made me feel awake again. We were the lucky ones who get the last tour through the building. ok, we were sitting in the living room and from there we could see all the other spaces. Now you think what is so special about this tiny house? The house was called the Sustainable Home and this was because it is totally self-sufficient.

When we were sitting in the living room of the sea container, the structure, an enthusiastic guy was telling us about the house. The building can be placed everywhere around the world, so no connection to sewerage, electricity or water. Now you are thinking, how is this possible? The electricity they get from solar panels on the roof, these panels are heating the house and makes the electrical devices work. Rainwater will be stored and filtered so it can be used for washing, flushing the toilet, cooking or even drinking. Also an extra thing, which is quite important for the future I think, the building can be totally connected via 4G internet. Because the building can be placed everywhere, it can be placed on the top of a building (and get a nice view), in the dunes (nice for the summer) or in the woods (and enjoy the nature). The ‘House of the Future’ I think.

The visit to the house made me think about the future of our houses. Will it be the future to have house who will be totally self-sufficient? Houses we can place everywhere we want? I think it is. We want to be more independent, want to save ourselves without help from others. At the moment we have so much smart devices, if they work together a house like this will be more self-evident. I think the future of house will be self-sufficient and will be less constrained by the context.