House of the Future

The House of the Future competition was an initiative from the Dubai Government inviting designers from around the world to design a highly affordable, expandable, revolutionary, innovative, and aesthetically pleasing house suited for modern Emirati needs.

RSAAW’s concept centered on the idea that we cannot move into the future without considering the past. We reviewed the existing surrounding contexts, using both historic and contemporary references to inform our design approach. We incorporated concepts such as the Barjeel (a traditional Middle Eastern architectural element used to create passive cooling and cross ventilation in buildings) and latticework as elements signifying continuity between historic and modern architecture.

Our House of the future functions as both a standalone dwelling but also as a prototype within a community/neighborhood context to examine what passive energy strategies might look like at scale. We sought to generate a sustainable, flexible house prototype integrated into an urban network that contemplates the user as an individual, and as part of a collective community. The design draws on established layouts but stretches the program vertically and uses setbacks to create space for user interaction and sustainable energy infrastructure grids powered by wind and solar energy. Irrigation is incorporated via pure water ponds fed from cutting-edge wastewater treatment systems. Contemporary use of low-impact systems incorporating traditional techniques allow architecture here to function both as a system and as an object. By using sites that currently combine industrial and residential uses, an opportunity is created to build not only houses, but holistic urban projects that transform inhospitable land into livable, eco-forward, pedestrian centric and resilient communities.