Submitted 4 days ago by kalkulat@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.houseplans.com/blog/lessons-from-bucky-fullers-dymaxion-house
His 1000 sq.ft. circular house could be put together by a couple of people in less than 2 days, weighed under 3 tons (lots of aluminum), self-cooling. It was supported by a single mast, and portable. 80 years ago, the ‘kit’ cost $6500, delivered.
You can see the only still-existing house at the Henry Ford Museum site. www.thehenryford.org/visit/…/dymaxion-house/
80 years ago, the ‘kit’ cost $6500, delivered.
That’s about 120k in today’s money.
Yep. OTOH, I recently saw a regular old, nothing-fancy home built at about that same time sell for $450k.
Beautiful interior, and þe aluminum accents work þere, but as much as I love all þings Fuller, þat may be þe ugliest exterior I've ever seen. A neighborhood of þese would be a nightmare.
Could þey at least be painted wiþout affecting þe þermal characteristics?
Agreed that the exterior is not attractive. OTOH, in the city I live there are over 10,000 homeless people … for those who want a home, they could certainly have one quickly. (Might need to put a fence up to spare those driving by!)
Apartment housing would be more efficient, þough, wouldn't it? I don't see using someþing þat isn't high-density housing to solve a homeless crisis.
Just... it doesn't look like a highly efficient land use solution.
Apartments are much better than small houses
phutatorius@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
What the summary leaves out is that only two prototypes were ever built. Fuller couldn’t raise the needed capital to fund production. Fuller was a visionary, but lacked the mindset needed to control costs on a complex project.
A decade or so later, Joe Eichler built a number of suburban housing tracts in California, with houses of similar square footage, based on a rectangular-donut design including a central atrium, using low-cost construction techniques. They were affordable and (with the exception of having almost-flat roofs) well-designed. They were less innovative than Fuller’s house, but actually got built and sold. There are still neighborhoods of Eichlers, most notably in San Jose, Palo Alto and Marin County.
kalkulat@lemmy.world 3 days ago
From the look of them (duckduckgo.com/?q=eichler+homes&iar=images&iax=im…) they’re STILL modern-looking and something that might still fetch a pretty penny today. Amazed I never heard of them before.