6. The House of the Future

a) What will the house of the future look like? Will it be high-tech? Will it have more luxury? Will it be bigger or smaller? Will more or less people occupy the house?

1st clip: http://youtu.be/8Azx_MnlSBI 4th clip: http://youtu.be/EN5-MOeB2j4

2nd clip: http://youtu.be/gQst92_IkPg 5th clip: http://youtu.be/mOuthD673UI

3rd clip: http://youtu.be/K-0OqFkzqJI 6th clip: http://youtu.be/MXENyQwfvlM

Hot or not? Would the following four people be impressed with these new ways of living? Discuss four of the six clips, each time as a different person. If they were interviewed for a Magazine on House Design; What would you have to say about the clips as these people? Try to imitate the way they would talk, formal, informal, slang, …?

b) Discuss the clips further with your group:

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Which problem does the next designer tackle (aanpakken)? Which solutions has he come up with? What are the advantages of such a house? What do we call the technology used or the type of house?

c) You are an architect invited by the mayor of Bruges to discuss the future of the city and new plans that have to be made in a city council. Discuss the following questions and present one of the designs underneath as your idea for the future of Bruges:

One person is the mayor, the others are architects. The mayor asks questions and tells people to talk in turns. Use a polite, formal language and be persuasive. You have to convince the mayor.

At the end the mayor reaches a conclusion for the future of Bruges. Write this down in 8-10 lines as if you were doing a report on this meeting. Be objective and brief.

What do you think will be the advantages of a house in 2050? Which things will be different in the future? How do you think ecology and the growing number of people in the

world affect the way that we live? Will any measures be taken? What can we do about our houses to make them more ecologically friendly?

Here are a few other possibilities:Do you think they are realistic? Rate the ideas with: stupid – inventive – brilliant

d) Reading: Living in the future: Cohousing

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Cohousing offers a healthier way to live and a more sustainable business modelThe Lancaster Cohousing development is testament to the passion, practicality and persistence of its members

Future residents of Lancaster Cohousing, who are building sustainable homes on the banks of the River Lune in Halton, Lancashire. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianRecently I put down a deposit (aanbetaling) on my dream home, and joined a gentle (zachte) revolution. My home, when it's built, will be part of one of the largest Passivhaus developments in Europe. It's not just sustainable (houdbaar) in building terms, it's also going to be sustainable in human terms, encouraging the daily (dagelijks) social contact that we know from growing research is a key to mental health and happiness.It's on the Lancaster Cohousing development, which is part of the growing cohousing movement that is big in Scandinavia and the US and is now catching on in the UK. Each member will live in their own, private eco-home in the midst of communal (gemeenschappelijke) facilities (voorzieningen) that both save resources (grondstoffen) and encourage the creation of community.At Lancaster Cohousing the re will be a common house where, if I wish, I can regularly eat a meal with my fellow (mede-) cohousing members. I'll wash my clothes in a communal laundry, my visitors can sleep in commonly owned guest rooms (gastenkamer) and I'll have access (toegang) to a dozen cars in the communal car pool. When I go to work I'll walk 100 yards to a renovated engineering (ingenieur) works providing (voorzien) office and workshop space, with an emphasis on ecological enterprises (ondernemingen).My eco-home, designed by architects Eco Arc using natural or recycled materials, will be south facing (zuidgericht) so it has plenty (volop) of natural light and will be warmed by the sun. It will be so well insulated (geïsoleerd) it will need just one radiator, fuelled (aangedreven) by a woodchip (houtsnippers) biomass boiler, even in deepest winter. Solar will help heat our hot water, and a proposed hydro scheme on a nearby weir (dam) will supply electricity.But the physical buildings are only one aspect of what makes Lancaster Cohousing different. What's really special is how those buildings have been created. I, like everyone else in the project, have committed to giving at least three hours a week to bring it to fruition (voltooiing), and there are "task and finish" groups covering everything from transport to soft landscaping. Rather than being customers (klanten), we are the creators and developers of the project: finding a brownfield site, getting planning permission, appointing architects and builders, inputting into the design and overseeing the development.We work, as a group, by consensus decision making (overeenkomsten sluiten). Now that doesn't mean everyone has to agree, but it does mean that everyone has to feel they can live with the decisions we take. We've developed a simple process which works, and is usually enjoyable.

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It may sound idealistic, but it has needed hard-nosed realism, attention to detail and a lot of work to get from the shared dream of five friends six years ago to starting construction of 41 eco-homes on the banks of the River Lune (occasional home to otters). For years we searched for a city centre site, eventually compromising (een compromis sluiten) the dreams of some urban dwellers (stadsmensen) by moving three miles out to our beautiful riverside site on the edge of the village of Halton, which suddenly became available when a developer went bust (failliet).We feared one of the biggest hurdles (hindernissen)would be that the traditional professional and business worlds would think us a wacky bunch (gekke bende) with no business acumen or professional expertise. There were a few difficulties, for instance finding a bank willing to give us a loan (lening) when we weren't an established (echte) developer. Eventually Triodos Bank came to our rescue (redding). "In general I've been pleasantly surprised by how well most professionals have understood us and worked with us and our processes," Jon Sear, our full-time project manager – and a fellow cohousing member – told me.In fact, we are well qualified group. We have engineers, environmental consultants, entrepreneurs, accountants, a lawyer, a carpenter, a nurse, academics including a visiting Cambridge professor and even a senior police officer among our number. We also have healers (genezers), artists, film makers, web developers, house-husbands, retired people (bejaarden) and families with young children. There are people who've lived in communities most of their adult lives and others, like me, for whom this is a leap of faith (geloofssprong). No doubt we'll expand(uitbreiden) our skill (vaardigheid) base further when we sell the final few homes.In less than a year I will be in my warm, light sitting room, looking out at the wild River Lune. When I leave my front door I will be among friends. Within a short cycle ride I can be in the wilderness of the Forest of Bowland, on the beach, or in Lancaster with its theatres, restaurants and high-speed rail link. And what will make it even more special is that I, along with my neighbours, will have made this dream come true.

What is a passive house? What is meant by cohousing? How is this project practically organised? What are the advantages when it comes to…

social interaction heating transport work

water use light decision making maintenance (onderhoud)

What about decision making within the group? Which problems did the group have in realising their dream? Why is is good to have pepole with different professions and backgrounds to be living

together? Could you imagine living like this? Now read a few reactions to this article:

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Which things do people have questions about? Do you also think these are problems or do you think there is a solution?

Which reactions a re most negative? Are they justified reactions, in your opinion?

Write a short opinion on this possibility for the future as if you were making a reader’s comment on the website of that paper with that article.

Write 5-7 linesYou can use informal languageDiscuss what you like or don’t like about the idea.Think of better solutions or improvements or expansions to this formula.

The city of Ghent would like to let students live together with elderly people because there are not enough student homes and flats. It provides more comfort and space for the students and elderly people have someone to help them out with grocery shopping and other practical tasks.

Because more and more elderly people live alone in large houses that are too big for them and which cannot be maintained (onderhouden), cohousing may be a solution for elderly people. If elderly people would share larger houses, they could help each other out and share the maintenance of the house.

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EXTRA (if there is time) Breaking news!

Watch this news clip:https://youtu.be/MbqfWN-9zHE

World’s first 3-D-printed apartment building debuts in ChinaBY JUSTIN SCUILETTI  January 20, 2015 at 3:57 PM EST

Exclusive: WinSun builds world’s first #3Dprinting villa and tallest 3D printed apartment http://t.co/2km9k62NCx pic.twitter.com/J6oJK9qYO3— 3D printing & 3Ders (@3dersorg) January 18, 2015

A Chinese company has set another world first in 3-D printing living space.WinSun, the company that used 3-D printed materials to aid in constructing 10 houses in a period of 24 hours in March 2014, has constructed the world’s first 3-D printed apartment building. The five-story building made its debut in Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, China, alongside a separate, 3-D printed 11,840 square foot villa.Printing large parts for buildings also calls for a large 3-D printer to accomplish the feat. WinSun used, according to CNET, a proprietary 3-D printer measuring 132 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 20 feet tall to print each part of the mansion. The 3-D printer uses a material created from ground construction and recycled industrial waste to construct the parts. Once the pieces were printed, the assembly of the building occurred at the site, with the addition of steel reinforcements and insulation to meet China’s building codes.The company, however, does not want to stop there. WinSun, CNET reports, aims to use its 3-D printing technology to tackle even larger projects, including bridges and skyscrapers.

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