A Home of the Future

Fantastically futuristic, there’s something eerie about this geodesic sky-dome. Like a 1950s vision of the future coming to life, it’s otherworldly — something out of a science fiction movie. In late 2011, this dome, aptly named The Home for the Future, however, will become a reality.

Providing a year-round microclimate that showcases cooperation between man, technology, and nature, The Home for the Future was designed by Laboratory for Visionary Architecture Asia Pacific (LAVA), with the goal to create a space where technologies are seamlessly integrated to satisfy human needs.

The sky-dome, to be built on the rooftop of a furniture mall in Beijing, China, will be constructed out of Ethylene Tetrafluroethylene, ETFE, a plastic designed for resistance that supports a wide range of temperatures. This material supports a year-round microclimate, providing sun, light and fresh air — and gives the people of Beijing a break from noise and pollution.

The main initiative here is the attempt to balance nature and technology. But doesn’t placing tropical gardens, veggie patches, and organic shapes that recall nature, under a colossal dome made of highly resistant plastic seem a bit antithetical to the idea of living in harmony with nature? According to LAVA Director, Chris Bosse, it’s not. The structure, he says “acts as a metaphor for the questions our out times, our relationship with nature, with technology and with ourselves.”

 We live in a unique time — a time when technology is being developed at a faster rate than ever before. So while invisibly integrating technologies as agents for human comfort, and celebrating nature as best we can in the realm of our technological age, the Home for the Future does support a nature technology alliance.  We’re learning that the two can coexist, and LAVA ensures this in a truly innovative way with The Home for the Future.