I have mixed feelings about the Home Delivery exhibit at the Moma. On one hand, from an aesthetic standpoint i loved walking around the courtyard and seeing all of the houses. They were each pleasing and unique in their own ways. I especially liked the little cube room house with a bunk bed over the kitchen table. However, that being said, I do feel like the designers of each house got a little carried away and lost focus of the original goal. In my mind, the goal of a pre-fab house is to make a house that is accessible to the public, easily replicable, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing. I feel like each house hit two of those four requirements but none of them managed to satisfy all of them. Many of the houses were very cool concepts but simply not practically (ie: the MIT New Orleans jig-saw house). Looks cool in moma's courtyard, yes, but would it stand a hurricane or function in the real world? I'm afraid not. Nick K
Overall, I liked this exhibit at the MOMA, although there were some things that made me scratch my head. As I wandered around the exhibit on the top floor, my eyes were drawn to the Water Block House, which absolutely blew me away, and not necessarily in a good way. Although it looked cool and the idea of easily transportable housing could be a good one, I think that it is an example of an architect taking things too far. To me, it seemed much more like art than functional and practical architecture. There is nothing wrong with having a building be a piece of art, in fact I think it improves the building, but to me, it should not take precedence over functionality. I think pre-fabricated housing is supposed to be practical for its use, easy to copy, easy to distribute to those who need it (both financially and physically), and look good aesthetically. I really don't think the Water Block House is practical, which, at least for a house, should be the number one priority. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright's American System Built Houses. From the drawings (and I admit it's a little hard to tell without a 3-D model), it seemed like a great example of a pre-fabricated house that served as both a piece of art and a functional piece of architecture. I also liked the houses that were in the lot next to the museum, although I agree with Nick that some of them were impractical. Aesthetically, I liked the MIT Digitally Fabricated Housing for New Orleans, although it didn't seem very strong. I also thought the Cellophane House was cool and modern to look at, but my first instinct was to say that it too would be impractical. The little Micro Compact Home was cute, but personally, I don't think I could live in something that small.
I thought the Home Delivery exhibit was interesting, but a little unrealistic. The houses were cool and I was intrigued at how old alot of the models were, but they all seemed to me to be something a kid would build out of blocks, not the housing of the future. While cool, alot of them seemed ridiculously large and inefficiently designed. The housing of the future, unfortunately, has no character: it is all fabricated, all the same -- there is one design with the least wind resistance (for strong winds) the right floor plan (for maximum space at minimal cost) and the right energy distribution structures (solar panels that will gather the largest amount of sunlight). Cool to look at models, but unfeasible in the real world. Oh well, the world needs more creative expression, so I liked the exhibit and hope people continue to build models like that, and maybe even an eccentric house or two along the same lines. But the housing of the future for the general public? No way. Steve
I really liked the exhibit I thought it was really interesting, especially the life size models / homes. I really liked the cube living space. I thought it utilized space incredibly. I don't think that there was a single inch of that space that was not utilized efficiently. Sadly, that house is really only suitable for one person at a time because it would get incredibly claustrophobic. Unfortunately that house along with the other houses can only really suit a warm climate. The cube house because there is not a lot of space in the house, so you would want some space outside and the other houses because they do not look very insulated.
Although all of these house were great Ideas, I don't think anyone is really practical. I agree with Nick that the New Orleans house will not survive a hurricane. The tall clear one was my favorite, but every time I touched the walls, I got an electric shock which was not super fun. I feel that the metal one that was on the fifth floor will rust quickly. There were already signs of it on the building; therefore, the only way that you could live in that house would be if you were up to date on your tetnus shots.
I liked the exhibit but I thought that a lot of the houses were impractical. The little cube house was very small, and I couldn't find where one was supposed to store their clothes. There was a rod over the eating area that could have clothes hanging off it, but the space is small enough already, and if it had different shaped and colored clothes it would make the space even smaller. The five story house made a lot of noise with the vents, which was annoying, and if you lived there it would be very annoying. The kitchen in the house that they built with two trailers that was stackable was not suited for cooking. The only counter space was also a stove, so you would have to cook on the table if you were using the stove? But I thought the ideas of how to use the space were very interesting, just not suited for their function.
6 comments:
I have mixed feelings about the Home Delivery exhibit at the Moma. On one hand, from an aesthetic standpoint i loved walking around the courtyard and seeing all of the houses. They were each pleasing and unique in their own ways. I especially liked the little cube room house with a bunk bed over the kitchen table. However, that being said, I do feel like the designers of each house got a little carried away and lost focus of the original goal. In my mind, the goal of a pre-fab house is to make a house that is accessible to the public, easily replicable, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing. I feel like each house hit two of those four requirements but none of them managed to satisfy all of them. Many of the houses were very cool concepts but simply not practically (ie: the MIT New Orleans jig-saw house). Looks cool in moma's courtyard, yes, but would it stand a hurricane or function in the real world? I'm afraid not. Nick K
Overall, I liked this exhibit at the MOMA, although there were some things that made me scratch my head. As I wandered around the exhibit on the top floor, my eyes were drawn to the Water Block House, which absolutely blew me away, and not necessarily in a good way. Although it looked cool and the idea of easily transportable housing could be a good one, I think that it is an example of an architect taking things too far. To me, it seemed much more like art than functional and practical architecture. There is nothing wrong with having a building be a piece of art, in fact I think it improves the building, but to me, it should not take precedence over functionality. I think pre-fabricated housing is supposed to be practical for its use, easy to copy, easy to distribute to those who need it (both financially and physically), and look good aesthetically. I really don't think the Water Block House is practical, which, at least for a house, should be the number one priority.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved the drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright's American System Built Houses. From the drawings (and I admit it's a little hard to tell without a 3-D model), it seemed like a great example of a pre-fabricated house that served as both a piece of art and a functional piece of architecture. I also liked the houses that were in the lot next to the museum, although I agree with Nick that some of them were impractical. Aesthetically, I liked the MIT Digitally Fabricated Housing for New Orleans, although it didn't seem very strong. I also thought the Cellophane House was cool and modern to look at, but my first instinct was to say that it too would be impractical. The little Micro Compact Home was cute, but personally, I don't think I could live in something that small.
--Samantha H.
I thought the Home Delivery exhibit was interesting, but a little unrealistic. The houses were cool and I was intrigued at how old alot of the models were, but they all seemed to me to be something a kid would build out of blocks, not the housing of the future. While cool, alot of them seemed ridiculously large and inefficiently designed. The housing of the future, unfortunately, has no character: it is all fabricated, all the same -- there is one design with the least wind resistance (for strong winds) the right floor plan (for maximum space at minimal cost) and the right energy distribution structures (solar panels that will gather the largest amount of sunlight). Cool to look at models, but unfeasible in the real world. Oh well, the world needs more creative expression, so I liked the exhibit and hope people continue to build models like that, and maybe even an eccentric house or two along the same lines. But the housing of the future for the general public? No way. Steve
I really liked the exhibit I thought it was really interesting, especially the life size models / homes. I really liked the cube living space. I thought it utilized space incredibly. I don't think that there was a single inch of that space that was not utilized efficiently. Sadly, that house is really only suitable for one person at a time because it would get incredibly claustrophobic. Unfortunately that house along with the other houses can only really suit a warm climate. The cube house because there is not a lot of space in the house, so you would want some space outside and the other houses because they do not look very insulated.
Although all of these house were great Ideas, I don't think anyone is really practical. I agree with Nick that the New Orleans house will not survive a hurricane. The tall clear one was my favorite, but every time I touched the walls, I got an electric shock which was not super fun. I feel that the metal one that was on the fifth floor will rust quickly. There were already signs of it on the building; therefore, the only way that you could live in that house would be if you were up to date on your tetnus shots.
I liked the exhibit but I thought that a lot of the houses were impractical. The little cube house was very small, and I couldn't find where one was supposed to store their clothes. There was a rod over the eating area that could have clothes hanging off it, but the space is small enough already, and if it had different shaped and colored clothes it would make the space even smaller. The five story house made a lot of noise with the vents, which was annoying, and if you lived there it would be very annoying. The kitchen in the house that they built with two trailers that was stackable was not suited for cooking. The only counter space was also a stove, so you would have to cook on the table if you were using the stove? But I thought the ideas of how to use the space were very interesting, just not suited for their function.
(oops, the one above was written by Lia)
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