1950s Smart Homes and the Longevity of Design(resobscura.blogspot.com)
resobscura.blogspot.com
1950s Smart Homes and the Longevity of Design
https://resobscura.blogspot.com/2019/12/1950s-smart-homes-and-longevity-of.html
39 comments
[deleted]
There is an “All Electric Home” preserved in the county museum where I live. The most interesting thing is the large, hidden relay panel used to control everything, with a mess of low voltage wiring run throughout the house.
https://www.jocogov.org/facility/the-1950s-all-electric-hous...
Of course thus would be powered by nuclear energy.
https://www.jocogov.org/facility/the-1950s-all-electric-hous...
Of course thus would be powered by nuclear energy.
You're link won't load, but my house is wired like that. It doesn't have any "smart" features, but each light switch is a momentary-contact toggle switch connected to a relay in a big panel in the basement. The system is made by General Electric and is still sold today (mostly for commercial applications).
However, the low voltage wiring is very neatly done, and it still functions perfectly. Since low voltage wiring is so small, it means a bank of nine switches can easily fit in a single gang box (in the form of a 9-position dial and a single switch). Also, some lights are controlled by as many as five switches, since it's so easy to daisy-chain another switch, and I love that I can shut off the detached garage lights from inside the house.
The main disadvantage is that it's difficult to add dimmers to lights, since the line voltage isn't in the switch box.
This relay-driven system just screams to be hooked up to a computer system to add "smart home" features, and I actually started doing that. I got a prototype working with a Raspberry Pi and some home-made circuit boards to the point where I could ask Siri to turn on any light in the house, but I'm no electrical engineer, and before long my boards started to fail.
However, the low voltage wiring is very neatly done, and it still functions perfectly. Since low voltage wiring is so small, it means a bank of nine switches can easily fit in a single gang box (in the form of a 9-position dial and a single switch). Also, some lights are controlled by as many as five switches, since it's so easy to daisy-chain another switch, and I love that I can shut off the detached garage lights from inside the house.
The main disadvantage is that it's difficult to add dimmers to lights, since the line voltage isn't in the switch box.
This relay-driven system just screams to be hooked up to a computer system to add "smart home" features, and I actually started doing that. I got a prototype working with a Raspberry Pi and some home-made circuit boards to the point where I could ask Siri to turn on any light in the house, but I'm no electrical engineer, and before long my boards started to fail.
Have you documented this journey anywhere? Would love to follow along.
No, not really. This was a couple of years ago and I haven't done anything since. I always meant to write a blog post about it, but never got around to it.
I disconnected it completely a long time ago because it started to make the relays stick and all the switches in the house stop working. It's actually my parent's house, so I didn't want to make modifications to it or affect the current switches at all, just add a little smartness. I still want to get back to it when I get the chance.
The house was built in the mid-70s by a commercial electrician, and even the closet lights are connected to it. There are about 50 switches/relays in total. We've had to replace 3 or 4 of them in the last ten years, but that's all.
All the low-voltage wiring is out in the open. The relays are cylindrical and poke out of knockouts in the relay panel. The relays are of the latching type, so only require power to switch on/off. Three wires to each relay and switch: red/on, black/off, and white/common.
I disconnected it completely a long time ago because it started to make the relays stick and all the switches in the house stop working. It's actually my parent's house, so I didn't want to make modifications to it or affect the current switches at all, just add a little smartness. I still want to get back to it when I get the chance.
The house was built in the mid-70s by a commercial electrician, and even the closet lights are connected to it. There are about 50 switches/relays in total. We've had to replace 3 or 4 of them in the last ten years, but that's all.
All the low-voltage wiring is out in the open. The relays are cylindrical and poke out of knockouts in the relay panel. The relays are of the latching type, so only require power to switch on/off. Three wires to each relay and switch: red/on, black/off, and white/common.
I'm not quite sure why, but I love relay logic. I think it's because it's kind of a manifestation of the underlying logic in a very physical way. Like, we use switches as an analogy for transistor, and they're literally switches.
I don't know why, I just love them to bits.
I don't know why, I just love them to bits.
Ha! I was just thinking of the house in the JoCo Museum. (I live in the KC metro too.)
I didn't watch the video. I just wanted to mention to people the Bauhaus movement [1]. We still have furniture that's quite similar to it [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus
[2] https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/08/bauhaus-furniture-designs-...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus
[2] https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/08/bauhaus-furniture-designs-...
Also watches: https://www.junghans.de/en/bauhaus.html
I just cannot resist quoting Yogi Berra here: The future ain’t what it used to be.
What is it about certain designs that give them a 'modern' look despite the passage of time? Do sharp, angular lines always suggest a 'modern' or 'contemporary' aesthetic? What makes a design feel dated or old?
Here is a teapot design. Modern-looking? (Some of you may recognise it.) Can you guess when it was made?
https://media.vam.ac.uk/media/thira/collection_images/2006AB...
Here's who designed it and when:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78328/teapot-dresser-chr...
Some more designs by the same designer:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015...
Here is a teapot design. Modern-looking? (Some of you may recognise it.) Can you guess when it was made?
https://media.vam.ac.uk/media/thira/collection_images/2006AB...
Here's who designed it and when:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78328/teapot-dresser-chr...
Some more designs by the same designer:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015...
In the future, architecture might just as well look like old italian villages or a french chataux. It is about human taste and fashion. Not technical innovations.
One thing that's a bit different is it's relatively uncommon, in the wealthy world at least, for people to design and build their own home now, as opposed the vernacular (self-built) architecture of centuries past.
I'm a bit grumbly but it's frustrating to see planning boards make decisions about what fits local architectural character, as though we decided to stop changing what we liked when we started introducing planning requirements.
I'm a bit grumbly but it's frustrating to see planning boards make decisions about what fits local architectural character, as though we decided to stop changing what we liked when we started introducing planning requirements.
This is a big problem in The Netherlands. I want to buy a plot of land to build a home but it's always attached with a huge list of requirements. The home needs to be between A and B cubic meters, ridge height C, gutter height D, roof angle E, front needs to face the street, house needs to be perpendicular to the street, brick needs to be color F, needs to have parking for two cars, heating through system G.
I'm a big fan of prefab sustainable homes, the wooden flat-roofed bungalow ones that you can plop down from a factory in about two days. But those homes never meet the requirement list.
I'm a big fan of prefab sustainable homes, the wooden flat-roofed bungalow ones that you can plop down from a factory in about two days. But those homes never meet the requirement list.
I am going through this process right now in an attempted to use a prefab timber frame extension to an existing home (ca. 1800 thatched cottage). We actually tried to get a Dutch thatcher incidentally but she was too busy! A similar house would be completely illegal to build now (internal space is ~600 square feet) but ironically it's illegal to demolish too (protected structure)
The homes around here are mostly, to be honest, pretty ugly concrete block pebble-dashed bungalows. I don't mind that because hey, to each their own, but saying that a home which looks like a log cabin doesn't match the local aesthetic so we should keep all houses in this style is frustrating.
I do wonder if planners have a kneejerk reaction to anything cheap since a huge amount of public policy is specifically designed to keep housing expensive (or "preserve home values" if you're so inclined) The bias towards slow, inefficient, on-site building is hard to understand.
The homes around here are mostly, to be honest, pretty ugly concrete block pebble-dashed bungalows. I don't mind that because hey, to each their own, but saying that a home which looks like a log cabin doesn't match the local aesthetic so we should keep all houses in this style is frustrating.
I do wonder if planners have a kneejerk reaction to anything cheap since a huge amount of public policy is specifically designed to keep housing expensive (or "preserve home values" if you're so inclined) The bias towards slow, inefficient, on-site building is hard to understand.
There have been many projects in the eighties that reserved areas of neighborhoods which dropped most building regulations as you describe them here, including one in Emmen, where I was born. The results are not pretty: garish, impractical, unconnected with the surroundings. Although, perhaps amenable to the first owner, once the buildings are listed for sale, few seem to appreciate the builders unique taste. Furthermore, even though some of the houses are nicely built, many of them are just out of place: a Mediterranean house next to a Scandinavian, followed by a ‘large wooden shed’.
Newer projects have more appeal, where a larger group of families work together to form a connected architectural plan, often themed with energy neutral constraints. Perhaps that could be an option for you as well?
Finally, if you buy a large plot of land (villa style) you can do almost anything you like, especially because you are probably influential and able to convince the local government of your plans.
Newer projects have more appeal, where a larger group of families work together to form a connected architectural plan, often themed with energy neutral constraints. Perhaps that could be an option for you as well?
Finally, if you buy a large plot of land (villa style) you can do almost anything you like, especially because you are probably influential and able to convince the local government of your plans.
If you could design your new building so that it was invisible to everyone but you, there would be no need for these mind of regs. Unfortunately every built structure haas an impact on those around it.
If your liberty is somehow impacted by the color of my home, please explain how...
Maybe not the color, but imagine if every one of your neighbors built homes that had no windows facing the sidewalk/street - just a canyon of blank walls, each with a door. I am not wild about the inertia that governs the design review process, but I don't think I'd want there to be no oversight, either.
That could increase local home values due to uniqueness. What’s lost from codifying building styles is the ability to adapt over time. Old cities are beloved not due to adherence to a ridged design, but rather a mishmash or difficult styles which add character and enhance their surroundings.
Are you arguing that aesthetics in the built environment have no value?
[deleted]
Good point. Planners are not the most innovative designers. Seems western cities will be stuck with dull bauhaus inspired, minimalistic and cubic design forever.
[deleted]
Like always, what's old becomes new again.
Although technical innovations can enable design. If our future ends up where we spend most of our day in VR, I'd want my garden to look like my grade school Trapper Keeper https://i.pinimg.com/originals/35/4c/c3/354cc33523812bd516c1...
Personally I enjoy all of the analog dials. For some reason they really look neat, classy and appealing.
I'm currently building a brand new house and we've opted to forego most of the current home automation solutions. While they may have ushered in many of the promises of the past, they are locked in and difficult to service. Instead we are installing standard z-wave controllable switches/dimmers and standard programmable locks/thermostats, etc.
In the end if we really want automation we can use HomeKit or Alexa, although inviting Amazon/Alexa in to our home is a bit contentious.
In the end if we really want automation we can use HomeKit or Alexa, although inviting Amazon/Alexa in to our home is a bit contentious.
>> in the end they settled on something oddly traditional: Louis XVI furniture
so glad 2001 was made before Mariott Residence Inns were a thing, I can stand a week in one but would go insane if that was my zoo cage
so glad 2001 was made before Mariott Residence Inns were a thing, I can stand a week in one but would go insane if that was my zoo cage
Better to just watch the video than blogspam that just extracts still images from it and adds "insightful" commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyrTgtPTz3M
The contents of the blog post and video are different things, the blog post isn't just reiterating the video, but talks about how the technology looks outdated but the design of the home still looks timeless (at least in the author's opinion).
Despite it being old and somewhat irrelevant now, I just can't watch an advert for that long.
I actually love a good "future vision" ad. They're often pretty inspiring. One of my favorites is Corning's "A Day Made of Glass": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38
You even get zombie designs with modern architecture keeping various elements that where designed for airflow pre AC in homes that are kept sealed for efficiency.