House of the future

Future-proof homes

The insurance company Zurich has commissioned a study from Arup Associates to find out how buildings can be less vulnerable and cause less "disturbance" to the environment in the future. The time-horizon they are looking at goes to 2080 and the solutions are very interesting. What about buildings on stilts in areas where flooding occurs more frequently?

But there are also interesting implications for commonplace housing:

• Modularity to accommodate our changing needs in life
• End of commuting and return to local communities
• Self heating and self cooling by adaptation of material and appliances
• Energy self sufficiency (as a consequence)
• Plug-in cars to make better use of the grids
• Roof gardens to make better use of rain water
• Water independent by re-use

It sounds rather thrilling but the concept may include the end of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) because we can not handle the high-tech pieces! Very much what has already happened to our cars. The days when we could dive under the hood and fix our own motor-repair are since long gone.

There are more aspects and details available to check on sketches.