PLASTICS IN HOUSING
Richard Filipowski et al [Advisory Committee]
Richard Filipowski, B. A. [Advisory Committee] et al: PLASTICS IN HOUSING. Cambridge: Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1955. First edition. Oblong folio. Clear plastic cover. Plastic coil-binding. Thick printed wrappers. 70 pp. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Former owners ink name to front panel. Block lettering title to bottom textblock edge. Uncoated covers uniformly sunned, soiled and edgeworn. Few leaves dogeared. A nearly very good copy of a fragile document.
12.75 x 11 plastic coil-bound 70-page document produced in cooperation with the Plastics Division of the Monsanto Chemical Company. Features illustrated sections on Foundations and Structures; Walls and Roofs; Flooring; Openings; Ceilings; Partitions; Mechanical Elements; Storage and Furnishings; Potential Uses; Some Potentialiaties Further Explored and a Selected Bibliography.
Includes future uses such as an R. Buckminster Fuller Geodesic dome, furnishings, building alternatives and more. Interesting document that predates the construction of the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland by two full years.
From Wikipedia: "The Monsanto House of the Future (also known as the Home of the Future) was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, USA, from 1957 to 1967. The attraction was sponsored by Monsanto Company. The design and engineering of the house was done jointly by Monsanto, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Walt Disney Imagineering. The fiberglass components of the house were manufactured by Winner Manufacturing Company in Trenton, New Jersey, and was assembled into the house on-site.
"The attraction offered a tour of a home of the future, set in the year 1986, and featured household appliances such as microwave ovens, which eventually became commonplace. The house saw over 435,000 visitors within the first six weeks of opening, and ultimately saw over 20 million visitors before being closed.
"The house survived the introduction of New Tomorrowland in 1967, but closed shortly after, as Monsanto's attention shifted to their new sponsored attraction, Adventure Thru Inner Space. The building was so sturdy that when demolition crews failed to demolish the house using wrecking balls, torches, chainsaws and jackhammers, the building was ultimately demolished by using choker chains to crush it into smaller parts.
". . . In 2010, MIT Museum Architecture Curator Gary Van Zante gave a presentation on campus where he showed archived drawings and photographs of the plastic house. The talk, titled Back to the Future: A 1950s House of the Future, was part of the Cambridge Science Festival."
Richard Filipowski (1923 –2008) studied with Moholy-Nagy at the Institute of Design, Chicago, from 1942 to 1946. He then taught at the Institute of Design from 1946 to 1950, then at the Graduate School of Design from 1950 to 1952 via an invitiation from Walter Gropius and finally at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1953 to 1989.
Filipowski was an Associate Professor of Visual Design in the Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1955 and served on the Advisory Committee for this publication His Chicago training under Moholy-Nagy is readily apparent in the layout, formatting and organization of this document. Recommended.