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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Undersized Urbanite Dollhouse Contest- Inspiration

For the Undersized Urbanite contest, I am building a miniature house of the next century, guessing at what the architectural and interior decor styles of 2114 will be. Art Deco borrowed from the Egyptians,


And the Art Deco period depicted a future based on technology,








So did the MidCentury Modern period,


and it added an outer space influence,


(Both of the above illustrations are Arthur Radebaugh )

From where, or when, will the future borrow? Please don't say the 1980s...... My guess is that elements from both Art Deco and MidCentury Modern styles will be a strong influence, with additional elements yet to be invented (but I will try).

A contemporary artist, El Gato Gomez, has an interesting retro MCM style, that includes a large dose of retro-futuristism. In other words, she depicts the future as it was believed to be 50 years ago. Her art also has a geometric aspect that reminds me of Art Deco. See for yourself, compare her painting,



With an Art Deco design,


Her version of the future is "slightly" more optimistic than the zombie and vampire overrun future found everywhere today,


Gomez reaches back to (and, yes, idealizes) a period where society did believe the future would be bright. Like this:














I have a few other inspiration-photos:









The house depicted below existed in Boulder, Colorado, but unfortunately was destroyed by a fire. Its one side-uplifted roof, that stops half-way down, and walls of windows are very inspiring, and very "futuristic." I am unable to restore this house, but I am able to use it as an inspiration.



Hopefully, I will start building very soon.

Wishing you only good things, Neen

6 comments:

  1. Hi! I got excited when you mentioned Boulder, as there are some fascinating houses in the area! I found an article on a few of them here: http://www.thedenvereye.com/the-modern-architecture-of-sleeper/ and have always loved the house on Broadway in Boulder, the home of architecture firm M Gerwing. http://mgerwingarch.com/ I hope these might help you!

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    1. Thanks Elaine! I ran into that photo in an article that had nothing to do with architecture. I was so taken with it, I tried, unsuccessfully, to find other houses like it in the area. I really appreciate you providing these links, I am sure they will be very helpful!

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    2. Oh Neen! You are a girl after my heart. I absolutely love your inspiration pictures!

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    3. Thanks Cyd, you have the ability to recreate your inspirations, and your finished products are amazing! My attempts are, hmmm, attempts (but, I'm working on it). The difficulties in designing a future house are avoiding cliches (no comic book futurism) and coming up with a unique style. Nonetheless, I am certainly enjoying the task! Cheers, Neen

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  2. Hi!
    Great plans...can't wait to see you start the new building :)
    Hugs
    Kikka

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