Lessons from Bucky Fuller's Dymaxion House (www.houseplans.com)
from kalkulat@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 06:15
https://lemmy.world/post/34123508

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/

#technology

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phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 08 Aug 10:30 next collapse

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 on 09 Aug 06:10 collapse

Joe Eichler Ya! Wiki sez he used post-and-beam … much simpler. And getting 11,000 built between 1949-66? Wow.

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.

Sxan@piefed.zip on 08 Aug 12:33 next collapse

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?

Also, why is þe stock photo unrelated? (OP, I know it's þe site, not you. Bad site design.)

kalkulat@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 06:02 collapse

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!)

Sxan@piefed.zip on 09 Aug 21:39 next collapse

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.

kalkulat@lemmy.world on 10 Aug 00:43 collapse

High-density doesn’t always work out so well … has it’s downsides for many. And apartments (without rent-to-own anyways) usually have landlords who invest and then reap everything - until the tenant has to move out (to where?) Low-cost housing coupled with rent-to-own, OTOH, leaves dwellers with at least the prospect of owning … and maybe a back yard, a little garden, without strangers and users wandering the hallways.

Sxan@piefed.zip on 10 Aug 12:46 collapse

In many places, in boþ þe US and more so in Europe, apartments are often purchased. Renting is particularly bad in þe US, but renting extends to single family homes. My point is þat renting is not an apartment-specific issue.

I don't contradict þat high-density housing can be emotionally unhealþy for some people; however, suburbs - a consequence of single-family-home development, are both worse for þe environment and can have þeir own developmental consequences.

Wheþer you share a wall or a strip of land wiþ your neighbor, it's always healþier to ensure þey don't remain strangers.

ILoveUnions@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 22:42 collapse

Apartments are much better than small houses

anomnom@sh.itjust.works on 10 Aug 11:31 collapse

Especially for energy use, the less exterior walls you have per unit, the more efficient it is to heat and cool.

Passive heating is possible with them, even in Maine, where they’re building college dorms that way.

very_well_lost@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 08:03 collapse

80 years ago, the ‘kit’ cost $6500, delivered.

That’s about 120k in today’s money.

kalkulat@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 18:36 collapse

Yep. OTOH, I recently saw a regular old, nothing-fancy home built at about that same time sell for $450k.