Technological integration of the 'house of the future': Case study analyses of the integration level of technology for innovative housing projects between 1920 and 2010

For many years, numerous innovative housing projects (IHPs) have introduced visions on the future of everyday life by foreseeing the success of various (smart) technologies at home. In general, these projects are thought to be ‘futuristic, industrial, expensive and gadgetry’ (Mohammadi, 2010). However, many of the experimental technologies of that time have already infiltrated into today’s daily activities. Therefore, the motivation of this paper is to explore the integration (level) of technologies into the home environment. The goal of this paper is to analyse the (level of) integration of technology promised in IHPs realized between the period of 1920-2010. This is done by creating an overview of determined IHPs of which the innovative technologies used are identified and analysed accordingly. The analysis of integration is conducted by creating an overview of the existing IHPs. The sampling unit of the study is determined to thirty-eight (38) IHPs, between the period from 1927 to 2008. The cases are examined based on their following factors: ‘date’, ‘typology’, ‘goal’, 'initiator/designer' and 'prominent technological novelty at that time'. Five typologies come forward in the IHPs: 'conceptual' (ideas transferred to paper), 'showcases' (open exhibition for visitors), 'experimental lab' (monitoring use/adjusted frequently), ‘living lab’ (monitored and inhabited, but short-term), and 'inhabited dwelling' (taken into production and used). Thus, each IHP is examined individually by visually presenting its factors, and the IHPs in a shared typology are discussed in relation to each other. The novelty of this study is to synthesize the history of the IHPs through their contribution to the adaptation of (smart) technologies in the home environment as well as in architectural design. The added value lies in the insights of the factors of the cases and how they affect the integration of technology into daily life. In the conclusion, the rate of the necessity of the technologies in the home environment is reconsidered and discussed regarding the impact of IHPs on the architecture of today.