Utopie Plastic has introduced a collection of futuristic appearing micro-homes.
The dwellings are the newest exhibition at the Marseille, France’s Friche de L’Escalette sculpture park.
The exhibition is viewable by appointment, through October 1, 2017. It has a unique place in factory-built housing history to share.
The exhibition includes three rare micro-homes, which date from the 1960s and 1970s.
Utopie Plastic is centered around Matti Suuronen’s “Futuro House,” which was introduced in 1968, with 60 saucer-shaped micro-homes that are now scattered across the globe, according to Opumo.
The ‘Futuro House’ was intended to be a holiday home that could be transported from place to place. More specifically it was designed as a skiing retreat, and originally cost $14,000, per Curbed.
Related article: Far Out Spaceship like Prefab Home Designs from the 1960s
Also found in the Marseille exhibition is Maison Bulle a Six Corques – which translates to “Six-Shell Bubble House.” Created by French designer Jean-Benjamin Maneval, the Maison Bulle a Six Corques was introduced in 1956 as a prototype design that went into production over a decade later in 1968.
The flower-shaped homes originally came in green, white and brown, and are made of reinforced polyester insulated with polyurethane foam. Utopie Plastic has two of these units – one of which is being restored on-site for visitors to view.
Jumping ahead to the 1970s, the exhibition also includes the 1972 Hexacube design by Georges Candillis and Anja Blamsfeld. The Hexacube is made of polyester and fiberglass, with a space-ship looking design that was inspired by the idea of colonizing other planets in a perceived sci-fi age to come.
The most unique feature about the Hexacubes is that multiple could be combined to make a larger residence. That concept is similar to modular homes the way we know them today.
This part of factory-built housing history shows how innovations preceded trends such as modular or tiny-homes.
While these uniquely designed and futuristic looking micro-homes of aren’t in production, they are still a work of art. They’re being celebrated through the Utopie Plastic exhibition. ## (News, events.)
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