This or That: Traditional rectangular homes or newfangled round designs?
Traditional rectangular homes or newfangled round designs?
In this case it seems that newfangled is the way to go, or at least that's what architect Eli Attia says. His latest eco-friendly and energy efficient home design, called "Roundhouse," starts from a prefabricated round shell made of recycled steel and glass. The round shape, versus the old-fashioned rectangular one, is said to offer as much as 150% more floor space inside while minimizing how far pipes and wires have to run (they can all come up through the center of the structure) to reach all the rooms of the house.
There are still some kinks to be worked out (the Roundhouse has a flat roof design, which is prone to leaks) and many of the features (like a garden on the roof) can easily be done on any shape of building.
I'm personally thinking that there are plenty of ways to make a regular square house green, even if you're building from the ground up. It doesn't have to be round to be made of recycled materials, or to be rigged to reuse rainwater, or to be solar powered... I guess I'm just a square.
In this case it seems that newfangled is the way to go, or at least that's what architect Eli Attia says. His latest eco-friendly and energy efficient home design, called "Roundhouse," starts from a prefabricated round shell made of recycled steel and glass. The round shape, versus the old-fashioned rectangular one, is said to offer as much as 150% more floor space inside while minimizing how far pipes and wires have to run (they can all come up through the center of the structure) to reach all the rooms of the house.
There are still some kinks to be worked out (the Roundhouse has a flat roof design, which is prone to leaks) and many of the features (like a garden on the roof) can easily be done on any shape of building.
I'm personally thinking that there are plenty of ways to make a regular square house green, even if you're building from the ground up. It doesn't have to be round to be made of recycled materials, or to be rigged to reuse rainwater, or to be solar powered... I guess I'm just a square.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-31-2008 @ 5:00PM
ZenJen said...
Maybe not so new-fangled! This "round house" built in 1946 could actually make its own power!
http://www.thirteen.org/bucky/house.html
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