The World House Project - "We Can 'Grow' Buildings"

Here's something I saw on Inhabitat today that looks extremely interesting - the World House Project:

"The Evolution of Home

The WHP is a multi-year, collaborative initiative led by the Institute without Boundaries (IwB) that will explore the evolution of shelter and plan for the next generation of holistic housing design. The project will build on the research concepts of IwB’s inaugural project, Massive Change, using the same method of interdisciplinary design innovation.

The home is the intersection between the individual and society. On one end of the spectrum, urban sprawl and monster houses consume huge amounts of energy and pollute the atmosphere. On the other, over a billion people live in urban slums or in the streets without shelter.

The ambition of the World House Project (WHP) is to generate a system that achieves a balance between these extremes, and operates on the principles of sustainability, universality, technological responsiveness and balance, so that we may create dwellings that promote the long-term health of nature and human cultures."

They're benchmarking homes from around the world, old and new, studying them to gain an understanding of important implications of "climate, culture and terrain." The team, international and interdisciplinary in nature, will examine housing in the framework of twelve core elements of housing design and work to "create dwellings that are grounded in the principles of ecological design and that promote the long-term health of natural and human economies." The twelve core elements are: identity, social, communication, spatial, constructional, air handling, energy, water, waste, food, mobility, and finance. That's a very compelling list, indeed.

Here are a few images from the World House Project scrapbook on Flickr that I really like:






I've always imagined that homes could (and should) be built in this way!

It will be very interesting to see what comes out of this project. I'll be looking forward to watching it.

Image credits - World House Project Flickr photo album

The Zero Carbon House Project

My friend Justin pointed out a great Sundance/treehugger post on the Zero Energy House over on his great blog, materialicio.us (see his post). It's so on topic for Future House Now that I feel I must also encourage my readers to get on over to treehugger to check this out.

What's great about the project is how many different building strategies are being employed to make this house green. There really is no simple answer. A total re-think of how we build our homes is required to truly make them green. It also shows you how a mix of smart design, natural materials, and new technology - all three in working in concert - is required to make a whole system that works.




I also like that the project includes transportation in the equation. In the past, unsightly garages were the only link between car and house. Now the house and the car, our two biggest sources of energy consumption, will have to start working together in integrated energy systems.

This isn't just a conceptual project - the house is being built. Please visit the Zero Carbon House site.

Image credit - zerocarbonhouse.com

SECCA's Home House Project

This past weekend I picked up a book on The Home House Project, which chronicles the top entries to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts' (SECCA) innovative competition that challenges artists and architects to find new and unique solutions to low and moderate income family housing.

The goals for the project are really admirable: "1) to provide inspired design in the affordable housing market for those who historically have been omitted from enjoying its benefits; 2) to establish a new national housing model in terms of design, energy efficiency, environmental consciousness, and cost effectiveness that can change the stigma attached to affordable housing throughout the United States; 3) to showcase the most recent advances in sustainable design and 4) to foster new partnerships with people, organizations and communities across the United States involved in the creative applications of affordable design."

I have to say, the SECCA really must be pleased with the results. The entrants totally succeeded in creating extremely forward-looking, effective, unique, and affordable houses. And the book is really wonderful. Not only is the text full of interesting, thought-provoking ideas, the pages are packed with color illustrations of some really different and outstanding houses - some ingenious in their practicality, others wild and extreme. Take a look here for .pdf files of all the top 25 entrants. Great competition that is definitely bringing new dimensions to affordable housing, and great book to chronicle the work.

Image Credit - Home House Project page on SECCA site

Interesting Report on the Home of the Future

I just ran across a really thought provoking item at TreeHugger.com; an interesting post from last summer that was recently revisited as one of their top picks of products and ideas for the home of the future. It's a study on the home of 2080 by Zurich Insurance and Arup Associates (a global design, engineering, planning and business consultancy). The study keys in on four major aspects of the home of the future: energy, resources, social and environment. Important ideas like the end of the commute, rooftop gardening, intelligent insulation, biomimicry, and design for multiple generations and stages of life are discussed, among many others. You can download the full .pdf file summary of the report from the Arup site.

Image credit: TreeHugger Post