Many distinctive buildings that we think of as forward-looking are often based on designs that were first popularised in the 50s, 60s and 70s. It’s not only the structural elements but also the interior design that can often be traced back to the same period.
Now, with the rapid advances in technology making inroads in every area of our daily lives, it seems strange that ideas of future homes often still resemble those predicted by designers, sci-fi films and TV shows of the past.
Control
With more gadgets than ever around the home, keeping control of everything must become more streamlined.
Gesture-based control systems will almost certainly be more common and already some smart TVs can react to moving hands and facial gestures. From lights turning on and off as we move around our home through to more complicated tasks becoming voice-control operated, the range of opportunities for new ways of controlling things means that the days of the old style remote control are definitely numbered.
Buildings
The homes of the future will be built with new ideas firmly in mind. New houses in Torquay already feature sustainable technologies and other design ideas in their construction.
The way that homes have been planned, built and arranged has changed throughout history to fit in with the way we use them and that is certainly going to apply to new generations of housing in exactly the same way.
Some of the more cutting edge architect-led developments today include so called ‘eco houses’ which use the contours of the land to achieve higher insulation levels and lower carbon footprints. Called ‘hobbit homes’ by some, they could make our ideas of terraced houses a thing of the past.
Smartness
‘Smart’ is a word that is being stuck alongside everything in the home; from TVs to central heating controls. However, smart windows really are a taste of the future that is with us right now.
‘Switchable windows’ are going to have as great an impact as the mass introduction of double glazing did around 50 years ago. A range of glass materials such as electrochromic, liquid crystal and suspended particle types can be physically altered when a small electric charge is applied.
This makes the glass change and become transparent or opaque on demand, which could literally means it curtains for curtains!
