Retro plastic housing may give hint of how people live in future
Can a plastic house point to a future trend in housing?
In a France-based sculpture park, an exhibition called Utopie Plastic displays a series of sci-fi homes all utilizing moulded colourful plastics.
The prefabricated buildings look like they’ve been transported from the 1960s and early 1970s, when designers at that time were testing out new living ideas in their use of injection-moulded plastics, reports design blog Inhabitat.com.
Architects also made use of malleability of plastics to create modular housing in offbeat shapes and instantly noticeable bright colours.
The designs at this exhibit — which is taking place at Friche de l’Escalette in Marseille until Oct. 1 — give designers of these retro-yet-futuristic abodes a way to potentially lay the groundwork for futuristic transportable homes.
One of Utopie Plastic’s biggest attractions has been the UFO-like Futuro House.
The brainchild of the late Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, of which fewer than 100 were constructed during the ’60s and ’70s, this prefabricated setup is elevated on steel legs and accessible via a folding staircase and hatch door.
Many of these can be found in different locales around the world.
In one instance, according to thefuturohouse.com, a Futuro House was recently sold to a buyer in Rockland, Wis., though what the homeowner paid for it wasn’t disclosed.