In 1957, Disney introduced the world to the Monsanto House of the Future. The house was designed to be ultra sleek and modern and represent the way people would someday live. People were excited and intrigued by the idea of microwave ovens, electric toothbrushes, and wall mounted televisions - all of which we now have. The house featured four wings that appeared to be floating above the perfectly manicured landscape. Unfortunately, like most technology, the house quickly became outdated and was demolished in 1967.
More than 50 years since the original house, Disney has unveiled its new Innoventions Dream Home. However, its not quite so innovative. The new home to the Elias family (Walt's middle name) features a whole lot of technology, but little else. Sponsored by Microsoft, HP and Lifeware, the house fails to deliver on new and unheard of technology. To me, it sounds like a Disney version of Microsoft founder Bill Gates' house. Voice and image recognition appear to be the biggest thing, but how many movies has that been in? That is of course in addition to already operating in the Gates' house. A virtual mirror in the teenage daughter's bedroom seems like a combination of Alicia Silverstone's closet in Clueless and another mirror thing I've heard of somewhere but can't quite put my finger on. I'm not saying its not cool, its just not **NEW**!!
Unlike the 1957 original, the 2008 house plays it safe architecturally. During a time when Frank Gehry creates this in the same state as Disneyland and Dubai is building a moving skyscraper, Disney selected suburbanite developer Taylor Morrison to create a cookie cutter version of the future. I just expected more. That's all.
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