The Netherlands instituted an experimental architecture program in the 1960s so they could have more interesting houses. It’s a great idea, because nothing is more boring and depressing than a suburb full of cookie cutter homes so alike that you have to look at the numbers to find your own. Some interesting ideas came of the program, and in 1984, the spherical house was launched. Now, you can probably think of several reasons why a spherical house won’t work: wasted space, the furniture won’t fit against the wall, and neither will artworks. But there’s more! The foundation is small, and the curve underneath never gets sunlight, so mold grows on it. And the windows leak. So what did they do with all these spherical houses? Let poor people live in them! I suppose it’s better than no housing projects at all, but still. And now you see why designers and architects have different training and careers, and if they collaborate, they must play devil’s advocate with each other. Tom Scott tells the story of the Netherlands’ spherical houses.
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Source: neatorama