The 'House of the Future' Is a Shiny Rotating Blob

A big, rubber kickball that’s been blasted with a shotgun and is in the process of deflating—that’s what we could all soon be living in, to believe the winner of a design competition envisioning the “house of the future.”

The “Hollywood” contest, put on by the Denver-based architectural-research group Arch Out Loud, invited architects and visionaries to submit concepts for a revolutionary single-family domicile that uses environmentally friendly technology. The house would sit on a parcel of land right below the famous HOLLYWOOD sign, owned by a New York dentist who grew up in California named Steve Alper. “The idea for a competition came from Steve recognizing that such a prominent location needs a story, and its design should make a statement beyond another luxury home in the Hollywood Hills,” says Arch Out Loud’s Nick Graham. “The location can serve as a platform and its architecture a precedent for sustainability, future lifestyle, and iconic architecture.”