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Monsanto House of the Future

Monsanto House of the Future
Lost
  • California Modernism
  • Identity of Building/Site
  • History of Building/Site
  • General Description
  • Evaluation

Monsanto House of the Future

Site overview

Designed as a prototype to push the limits of technology, building materials, and aesthetics, the Monsanto House of the Future opened in 1957 as a featured attraction at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. In 1954, the Monsanto Chemical Co. approached MIT with the proposal to develop a prototype house built of structural plastic, an industry the company hoped to cultivate. Architects Richard Hamilton and Marvin Goody worked alongside engineer Albert Dietz to design the house, initially for no specific location. After Disneyland opened in 1955, Monsanto agreed to sponsor the building as an attraction at the park, labeling it a house “of the future.” The house stood as a cross-shaped pavilion whose tall fiberglass wings cantilevered off a square concrete foundation and utility core. Each wing consisted of a floor and ceiling bent together in a 'U' and sealed on the walls with glass. The interior was decorated in the manner of a residence with objects and systems which were imagined to become commonplace in the year 1986, including microwaves and push-button telephones. Visitors toured the home in a procession, entering into the kitchen and touring the exhibit in a circuit. In 1967, as part of a redesign of Tomorrowland, Disneyland spent two weeks attempting to demolish the Monsanto House; however, wrecking balls bounced off the fiberglass walls, and the park was eventually forced to scrape the plastic into pieces sizeable enough to haul away.

Location

1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA, 92802

Country

US

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Designer(s)

Richard Hamilton

Marvin Goody

Other designers

Richard Hamilton and Marvin Goody (architects), Albert Dietz (engineer)

Related chapter

Southern California

Commission

1954

Completion

1957

Commission / Completion details

1954 (comm.) 1957 (compl.)

Original Brief

The House of the Future was an attraction meant to simulate a home in the year 1986 in Disneyland's Tomorrowland

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s)

1967 - demolition.

Current Use

Not extant. The House of Innovations is a reinterpretation of the original attraction.

Current Condition

n/a

General Description

The attraction was a cross-shaped pavilion whose sixteen-foot fiberglass wings cantilevered off a square concrete foundation and utility core. Each wing consisted of a floor and ceiling bent together in a 'U' and sealed on the walls with glass. The interior was decorated in the manner of a residence with objects and systems which were imagined to become commonplace, such as microwaves and push-button telephones. Visitors toured the home in a procession, Monsanto Chemical Co. approached architects Architects and Engineers at MIT in 1954 with the idea of developing a system of construction based on plastics. The newly opened Disneyland (1955) offered to partner with Monsanto as they had done with other corporations to sponsor the attraction in the area themed Tomorrowland. With the intention of designing a prototype suitable for any environment, Hamilton, Goody, and Dietz developed a modular system of L-shaped fiberglass pieces which fit together into a cross plan. The four wings cantilevered off a square concrete foundation and utility core.

Construction Period

1957

Original Physical Context

Tomorrowland was an original themed precinct within Disneyland when it opened in 1955, however there were only two attractions there on opening day: Autopia and Space Station X-1. Monsanto's House of the Future joined the attractions sponsored by other corporations such as American Motors Circarama (a projected video tour of the American West).

Technical

Monsanto's House was designed to be innovative, to intentionally push the limits of technology and aesthetics with the hopes that it might catch on. Hamilton, Goody, and Dietz tried to utilize the capabilities of fiberglass to design a different, new kind of structural system. Their idea is well expressed in the \"Architect and Building News" article on the project from 1957: "It is expected that in the future, because of plastics' versatility, the shape of correctly designed structures can be a function of their use rather than of the form of the materials from which they are constructed" (v.212, p.478). The trio developed a frame based on four identical U-shaped, each broken into a pair of curvilinear 'L's (the longer arms of which compose the ceiling and floor). This modularity allowed for facility of production and distribution on a large scale, which was ultimately, Monsanto's impetus for the project.
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