A mid-century icon, one of the original podlike Futuro houses by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen was sold June 2 by Wright as part of their Important Design auction. The prefabricated house had an estimate of $50,000-$70,000, far less than the 140,000 euros another Futuro house fetched at Christie's in Paris less than two years ago.
A sort of futuristic cabin, Futuro houses were light (made of polyester plastic and fiberglass), easily transportable anywhere by helicopter and first used as ski lodges or summer homes. From 1968 fewer than 100 Futuro Houses were built, but they ended up in places as far flung as Belgium, New Zealand and Mill Creek Park Willingboro, NJ. They were sold in the United States for between $12,000 and $14,000 but by 1978 tastes had changed and oil prices had made them uneconomical to produce. Originally designed to sleep 6-8, equipped with a kitchen and, as an upgrade, a fab fireplace, Futuro houses have since found other uses - as media rooms, gas stations, even the "special room" at a strip joint - but you can still stay in a Futuro vacation house in the woods near Milwaukee, Wisconsin to get the full alien spaceship experience.
For more information and a complete history of Futoro try to find a copy of the book and dvd package: Tomorrow's House from Yesterday By Marko Home and Mika Taanila
6 comments:
These remind me of Tomorrowland... Disneyland's old Carousel of progress.
Are you bidding on one?
I'm more of an admirer from afar
I wish i had one that could fly :-)
Like this?
or at least spin around. Very cool.
That is one funky little house!! I expect to see an alien waving at me through the window!! The story about the strip joint one made me laugh :-)
Thanks for your comment on my Jamie Drake interview. You're officially entered in our giveaway :-)
Kelly @ DesignTies
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