The House of the Future.
A Case Study House outside Johannesburg pioneered the house of the future.
And it still feels like home.
The intense industrial research during the war brought about new materials and technologies that changed the way houses were built. After the war, there was a forward-looking spirit in the air, so the timing was good to introduce the public to new ideas.
A group of idealistic architects and editors at Arts & Architecture decided to change that. Their aim was to make modern architecture accessible to the average American and made certain they didn’t miss the boom. They immediately commissioned eight of the top modernist architects in the country at the time to design affordable, easy-to-build prototypes for modernist homes as a showcase. The materials were supplied by various manufacturers and the houses were built and opened to the public for a period of time. To complete the project, people moved into the homes and documented their experience of living in a modern home.
By 1948, six Case Study Houses were built and they had more than 350 000 visitors. Most of them were around Los Angeles, California. The programme continued until 1966, by which time a further 36 houses had been designed and built.
The success of the programme can be seen in the design’s DNA of every modern or contemporary house built today. The experiment is testimony to the fact that if people could see or experience new ideas for themselves, they would be open to them.
Arts & Architecture stated that the Case Study Houses should be “suited to the expression of man’s life in the modern world”. More than 50 years later “life in the modern world” has evolved. Energy requirements have changed; the demands we place on our homes have increased. However, most of the time we continue to build with traditional building materials, even though new building technologies and materials exist.
Design aficionado and marketing maestro Gavin Rooke decided to build a new Case Study House to explore the potential of new materials to “build better homes”. He worked with architect Karlien Thomashoff to design a house on Monaghan Farm, an eco-estate outside Lanseria, which explores the architecture and materials of the 21st century. It explores the idea of sustainability and embraces a modern lifestyle.
But, as Thomashoff puts it, “people don’t generally want to live in ‘machines’, regardless of how well they perform”. The idea was to create a house that is not only sustainable, but makes the people who live in it more comfortable, happier, healthier and, as the official description says, “maybe even wealthier”. The way we live now and developments in technology mean that the home is a workspace as much as the office is. And people often have more than one working life anyway – accountant by day, blogger by night. The design of your house should acknowledge that.
So, while the house dubbed Stand 47 uses light steel construction, modern drywalling, double glazing and the likes of Rhino Wood as a sustainable alternative for door and window frames, all of which improve its efficiency and performance, it doesn’t feel like a machine.
Its sustainability is also enhanced by the principle of flexibility. The use of light steel construction made it possible to design the floor and ceiling as a single span. That means that, apart from the kitchen and bathrooms, walls can be removed and reconfigured according to your changing needs as families change and grow. Without interfering with services like electricity or messing up the floors and ceilings, walls can be made and taken away in just a few days. This means that there is very little waste and the house has the potential to last longer as it can adapt to the needs of the people who live in it.
As Rooke says, the idea of Stand 47 is not just about the technology, but about how the technology can build a “better home” – one that is luxurious and comfortable, but at the same time efficient. It proves that new technology and materials need not be strange and alienating.
An ongoing experiment monitors the home’s performance. On the home’s website, you can check a continuing record of its performance – the temperature inside compared to outside. You can even apply to stay there. Almost every weekend guests experience a night in the home of the future for themselves and their report-backs testify to its success.
It’s comforting to know that the future still feels like home.
Read more about Stand 47, with details of its construction, principles and performance at www.stand47.co.za.