Housing for the 21st Century

By:  | February - 4 - 2010

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Dan O’Riley

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We are still killing the Earth. The temperature is unbearable; the air is almost un-breathable. Our ever increasing population has overrun the planet to the point where there is little open land left and the one available is uninhabitable. We are huddled together in ultra-high density megalopolises like bees in a hive.

We could live in hexagonal prefabricated units to maximize the density of our cities in an attempt to reverse sprawl and for our own safety. Like the beehive, these hexagonal units efficiently stack and transfer load. These modular units can be stacked and clustered as high and as far as we care to place them.

To maximize the efficiency and usefulness of the interior of these units, the exterior hull is a sandwich of shell, still, and structure. The shells protect us from heat, cold, ultraviolet light, and noise. The still filters pollutants out of air and water. The structure in-between holds it together as a space frame. Within this sandwich also lies the ventilation and temperature regulating equipment. Because this hull is very dense, it frees up the interior of the relatively small units for flexible use. The sofa is the banquette for dinner as well as the bed; the stairs folds away to maximize the use of the limited space. The kitchen and bathrooms are self-contained fixtures.

The outside units that are exposed to direct sunlight are outfitted with photovoltaic arrays for harnessing what little daylight we have, as well as rain-collecting gutters for catching acid rain for neutralization and filtration.

We did not ask to live like this; this is not how we envisioned the future.

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