Home
Do you guys have a dream home? Maybe you want a big mansion with a pool in the backyard, or would you rather live in a little house in the countryside some day? Maybe it’s your dream to live in a loft in the city? Homes come in all different shapes and sizes and how people live has changed a lot over the years and will keep on changing! Let’s talk about it!
The past
What did homes look like in the past? The very first houses people ever built were temporary shelter places for people who travelled around. However, 10.000 years ago farmers started building permanent houses and settled down. These houses were mostly made of materials like mud, hay and rocks.
In the Middle Ages people started to build more resilient homes that would last a lot longer. The rich people mostly build their big or small houses out of stone. For example: think about the castles you can visit that were built during that time. However not everybody could afford stone houses just yet. People with less money still lived in huts made from wood and straw. Moving on in time, during the Industrial Revolution we see that homes get a lot smaller and a lot more packed up against each other. People lived in terraced houses in the city to live closer to their work or lived on their farms outside the city.
The present
Now, what do homes look like today? We see so many types of houses now! We see really big mansions with 16 rooms and 12 bathrooms, we see big apartments where more than 100 families can live, we see neighborhoods filled with detached houses and we also see streets full of terraced houses. For example, we see cities that are filled to the brim with skyscrapers, we see countrysides with only a few farms here and there and we even see castles where people live in! So there is a lot of diversity!
More and more people are also using some cool technology inside their house. They use solar panels to generate electricity in an environment-friendly way, they have robotic vacuum cleaners that do the work for them, they have smart lights that turn on when they come home… Technology and a greener way of living is making its way inside your houses!
Homes are also a really important place for most of the people nowadays. You like to be able to relax at home, feel at peace and get some rest together with your family. Some people work outside of their house and like to leave all work-related things behind them when they come home. Other people work at home but prefer a separate working space, so they can shut the door and enjoy family time once work is over. Most of the people want their home to be a place where they can enjoy their life and family time.
The futures
What will homes look like in the futures? There are so many possibilities and we don’t know which ones will actually become a reality! Let's have a look at what could be our future homes!
Tiny houses
Ever heard of tiny houses? These are really little houses, often not bigger than 46 square meters. Some say paople will all live in tiny houses in the futures. This would allow you to use less space on earth to live. Next to that you would be able to live in the middle of forest or fields, always surrounded by nature.
In countries like Japan they take this concept even further by building ‘Capsule Hotels’. These hotels offer you a tiny space that has a bed and sometimes a TV, that’s it. For example, think about a classroom and inside that classroom you build 50 different little rooms next and on top of each other. These little rooms just look like a bed with 4 walls around. Would you stay there?
Living on the sea
Due to climate change we fear that a lot of countries will disappear under water. One way to fix that is by building floating houses and cities on the ocean!
The people that are trying to build these kinds of cities call themselves ‘aquapreneurs’. They are trying to build big floating platforms that will be able to hold cities and housing. What a way to live right? Just floating around the world!
Smart homes
Smart homes, what are those? You probably know about smartphones or smartwatches. We call them ‘smart’ because these devices connect to the internet and to other devices, so they can work together. For example, maybe you can turn on your TV with your smartphone?
These homes are part of what’s called “home automation”. Home automation refers to a convenient home setup where a lot of things can be automatically controlled remotely from anywhere with an internet connection using a mobile phone, for example. According to Trensition data, home automation is also a strong trend that will likely stabilize in the near future!
Next to home automation, smart homes are also a great example of building automation. Basically this means that there is a centralized control panel through which you can manage everything. from lighting to air conditioning, ventilation and heating. according to Trensition this is also something that will grow in the coming 2 to 5 years and more and more of this technology will be integrated into houses.
Well, now people are building smart homes and some people want more! These are houses where almost everything is connected to each other and to the internet. You will be able to control almost everything in the house just by using your smartphone or tablet. Just imagine opening up your front door with your phone, your fridge ordering new carrots when it sees that you ran out or your lights dimming themselves at night!
You can find out more about this here
More sustainable houses and energy
When we look at houses in the present, we see that a lot of people already use more sustainable energy with solar panels. In the futures they want to take this even further! Some architects believe that our homes could generate even more energy in a green way, so there will no longer be any need for generating energy in ways that are harmful to the environment.
This could be done by using solar panels and windmills, but also by making sure the house uses as little energy as possible. Think about good insulation, only using heat and lights when needed…
Would you like a sustainable home?
Living in space
Ever thought about living on Mars? Maybe this could be possible in the futures! Some people believe that we should leave earth before climate change makes it uninhabitable.
They are looking into different ways to live on other planets. This could be done by building big domes on those planets that have safe air to breathe inside of them. Who knows, maybe I will see you in space in a few years!