House of the Future

The House of the Future, designed by a team of 24 designer-students from ID, sought to answer rising housing costs in the United States during the 1980s. While many causes are associated with the disparity between housing and salaries, the team looked at one interesting and significant runaway cost of a home: the technology to run utilities. While expected in any quality middle-class home, heating, plumbing, and telephone require expensive electrical, electronic, mechanical, and other standard services. The team believed that major savings could be achieved by integrating technological systems efficiently with building structure and producing optimal systems in factories. Their research and analysis culminated in the House of the Future, shown here in model form and recipient of the grand prize in the Japan Design Foundation’s first International Design Competition in Osaka, Japan, in 1983.