| The "Jetsons" cartoon series of the 1960's was a | | | | form or another, many of the technological |
| fanciful glimpse of American home life in the 21st | | | | gizmos in George Jetson's cartoon house are |
| Century. George, Jane, Judy, Elroy and Astro lived | | | | available to us today. The microwave oven and |
| in slick automated house that looked as futuristic | | | | home automation systems were "predicted" by |
| outside as it was high-tech inside. Here in the | | | | the Jetsons' creators. And George kept in touch |
| twenty-first century it would seem logical that | | | | with Jane and Mr. Spacely via a real-time audio |
| house design should be evolving towards a | | | | video link - something that the Internet has made |
| space-age look, but traditionally styled homes that | | | | a reality. |
| model themselves after eighteenth, nineteenth, | | | | But the majority of the technological changes in |
| and early twentieth-century designs are more | | | | today's homes are "invisible"; hidden within the |
| popular than ever. Is the architectural design clock | | | | walls, tucked away in the basement, or disguised |
| ticking backwards or are these classic exteriors | | | | as man-made products designed to mimic natural |
| simply attractive skins hiding twenty-first century | | | | materials. |
| muscles and bones? | | | | While many foundation walls are still built with |
| A Brief History | | | | concrete block or poured concrete, other |
| American house design has weathered four | | | | technologies are gaining acceptance. Foundation |
| centuries of rapidly changing architectural styles | | | | walls can now be built of precast pieces or |
| and tastes. The early homes built by European | | | | assembled from Styrofoam blocks that are then |
| settlers were simple and unadorned, reflecting the | | | | filled with concrete. And although our homes are |
| familiar forms of their homelands, but as | | | | still built mostly of wood, more of that wood is |
| prosperity grew they began to take on | | | | manufactured from smaller pieces - "engineered" |
| decoration copied from the great buildings of | | | | lumber -- or cut from genetically enhanced trees |
| Europe. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, | | | | grown in managed forests. High-quality "wood" |
| home style followed the fashion of the day - | | | | siding and trim products can be made from a |
| Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Neoclassical, Tudor, | | | | slurry of wood fibers and resin or specialized |
| Italian Renaissance. These classic homes are often | | | | lightweight concrete. Even window glass is treated |
| easily dated by tracing the architectural style to | | | | with a microscopic energy-saving coating and the |
| the time period when it was popular. | | | | space between panes filled with Argon gas. And |
| The twentieth century brought architectural | | | | that attractive stone exterior next door? It may |
| revolt. Tired of modeling their designs on | | | | be "cultured stone" instead. It's almost impossible |
| European archetypes, architects invented new | | | | to tell the difference. |
| forms of home design. The Arts & Crafts | | | | Some of these technological improvements give |
| movement, for example, sought to create a | | | | architects more design freedom. Engineered |
| more intimate connection between the house and | | | | lumber with its greater structural capacity allows |
| the lives of the occupants. The warm and cozy | | | | us to remove some interior walls and open rooms |
| bungalow homes scattered throughout this | | | | to each other. The increased energy efficiency of |
| country are an enduring heritage of the Arts | | | | window glass means more and larger windows, |
| & Crafts style. The Modern movement | | | | better views to the outside and more daylight |
| promoted the house as a "machine for living" and | | | | inside. |
| stripped all ornamentation. Chicago's Prairie School | | | | Heating and cooling systems are working harder |
| promoted an architecture born of the landscape - | | | | too, becoming more efficient every year as |
| a style that Frank Lloyd Wright worked to | | | | engineers find new ways to grab every last |
| perfection. Wright's homes are still considered | | | | calorie of heat energy from our limited fossil-fuel |
| innovative eighty years later. | | | | resources. New furnace systems can extract |
| Then along came the post-World War II housing | | | | more than 95% of the available heat energy in a |
| boom and a sort of chaos in housing style. In the | | | | fuel. |
| rush to provide thousands of homes for newly | | | | Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipe has largely replaced |
| prosperous Americans, good architectural design | | | | cast iron in plumbing drain systems, and plastic |
| often took a back seat in new tract home | | | | water lines are challenging the dominance of |
| developments and much of the scale, detail, and | | | | copper. |
| warmth of earlier "styled" homes was lost. | | | | And while only the highest-end custom homes |
| Craftsmanship became a lost art. New homes and | | | | have complete home automation systems |
| quality architecture have been only passing | | | | controlling lighting, heating, and entertainment |
| acquaintances since. | | | | media, nearly every home is pre-wired for |
| But our recent period of economic good fortune | | | | cable-TV and security alarms. |
| has revived an interest in the value of good | | | | There's No Place Like Home |
| architectural design. Books and television shows | | | | Inside and out, our homes are rapidly approaching |
| scrutinize design and construction and even an | | | | the technological level of the Jetsons. But while |
| entire cable network is dedicated to educating us | | | | George and his family lived in a circular, |
| about housing and home design. More and more | | | | glass-walled space needle, the look of many of |
| new communities are employing Architectural | | | | today's homes still recognizes the comfortable and |
| Review Boards in an effort to promote a higher | | | | familiar forms of our architectural heritage. |
| level of design quality and to help maintain a | | | | There's plenty of room in our communities for |
| consistent character throughout the community. | | | | non-traditional design. But we work hard and play |
| And at architectural offices across the country, | | | | hard and even in contemporary homes, we want |
| custom home clients (even those with modest | | | | to find comfort and peace. Regardless of the |
| budgets) are once again asking for attractive, | | | | architectural style, comfortable homes are ones |
| well-designed structures with character and | | | | that relate to our human scale, that surround us |
| personality. | | | | with warmth and light, and that bring our family |
| But these new home clients aren't asking for | | | | members closer together. We like spaces that |
| space-age design. They're seeking the comfort of | | | | support our patterns of living, and that can adapt |
| familiar forms, of gables and double-hung | | | | to our changing needs. High-tech has its place in |
| windows, of brick, stone, and wood, of cozy | | | | bringing comfort and convenience to our lives, but |
| porches and sidewalks, and they're looking at | | | | houses that acknowledge our heritage are familiar |
| older neighborhoods for design inspiration. | | | | and intimate. |
| Back To The Future | | | | Most of us aren't interested in homes that look |
| Where then here in the year 2001 are the" | | | | like the Jetsons', but we all like the convenience of |
| futuristic" homes? In many ways they're already | | | | their gadgets. I think that robot housekeepers are |
| here and rapidly becoming more high-tech. In one | | | | going to be very popular someday. |