View source for Unsolved:Monsanto House of the Future

{{ Infobox attraction
| name                = Monsanto House of the Future
| logo                = <!--Use ONLY the filename, not a full [[Image:]] link-->
| logo_width          = <!--Default is 250px-->
| image               = Monsanto Plastics Home of the Future, Disneyland, 1958 (15364290924).jpg
| imagedimensions     = <!--Default is 250px-->
| caption             = 
| location            = Disneyland
| section             = [[Unsolved:Tomorrowland|Tomorrowland]]
| status              = Closed 
| cost                = 
| soft_opened         = June 11, 1957
| opened              = June 12, 1957
| closed              = December 1967
| previousattraction  = <!--If there is an appropriate article, this should be linked.-->
| replacement         = Alpine Gardens
| coordinates         = {{coord|33|48|45|N|117|55|06|W|display=title,inline}}
| type                = Walkthrough attraction
| manufacturer        = <!--Must not be linked.-->
| designer            = Marvin Goody & Richard Hamilton<!--Should be linked.-->
| model               = 
| theme               = Futuristic House set in 1986
| music               = 
| height_ft           = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| height_m            = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| drop_ft             = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| drop_m              = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| length_ft           = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| length_m            = <!--Must be expressed in metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| speed_mph           = <!--Must be expressed in miles per hour and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| speed_km/h          = <!--Must be expressed in kilometres per hour and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| sitearea_sqft       = 1,280<!--Must be expressed in square feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| sitearea_sqm        = <!--Must be expressed in square metres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| gforce              = 
| capacity            = 
<!--Use only one of vehicles, rows, participants, or audience-->
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| vehicles            = 
| riders_per_vehicle  = <!--Only use if vehicles has been specified.-->
| rows                = 
| riders_per_row      = <!--Only use if rows has been specified.-->
| participants_per_group= 60,000 per week<!--Only use if neither rows or vehicles is applicable.-->
| audience_capacity   = <!--For shows-->
| duration            = 
| restriction_ft      = <!--Must be expressed in feet and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| restriction_in      = <!--Must be expressed in inches and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| restriction_cm      = <!--Must be expressed in centimetres and may contain only numeric characters.-->
| virtual_queue_name  = 
| virtual_queue_image = <!--Use ONLY the filename, not a full [[Image:]] link-->
| virtual_queue_status= <!--should be available if above fields are used-->
| single_rider        = <!--Must be "available" if available.-->
| pay_per_use         = <!--Must be "available" if available.-->
| custom_label_1      = Sponsor
| custom_value_1      = Monsanto Company
| custom_label_2      = 
| custom_value_2      = 
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| accessible          = 
| transfer_accessible = 
| assistive_listening = 
| cc                  = 
}}


The '''Monsanto House of the Future''' was an attraction at Disneyland's [[Unsolved:Tomorrowland|Tomorrowland]]<ref name="Gross" /> in Anaheim, {{wipe|California}}, {{wipe|United States}}, from 1957 to 1967.<ref name=Colomina>{{cite book|editor-last1=Colomina|editor-first1=Beatriz|title=Cold War hothouses inventing postwar culture, from cockpit to Playboy|date=2004|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=9781568983028|pages=102-|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl03E5zOJmIC&pg=102|first=Stephen|last= Phillips|chapter=Plastics: Monsanto Home of the Future}}</ref> It offered a tour of a futuristic home, and was intended to demonstrate the versatility of modern plastics.

==History==
Sponsored by Monsanto Company, the House of the Future was made possible by Monsanto, the [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), and [[Organization:Walt Disney Imagineering|Walt Disney Imagineering]].<ref name=Gross>{{cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=Daniel A.|title=Plastic Town|journal=Distillations Magazine|date=2015|volume=1|issue=3|pages=26–33|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/plastic-town|accessdate=22 March 2018}}</ref> With this project, Monsanto wanted to demonstrate plastics' versatility as a high-quality, engineered material.  The design team for this innovative structure included MIT architecture faculty Richard Hamilton and Marvin Goody (founders of Goody Clancy) and MIT civil engineering faculty Albert G. H. Dietz <ref name=Mannheim>{{cite book|last1=Mannheim|first1=Steve|title=Walt Disney and the quest for community|date=2004|publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot|isbn=978-0-7546-1974-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTfVFY__wJoC&pg=PA52}}</ref> , Frank J. Heger, Jr. (a founder of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger) and Frederick J. McGarry. The MIT faculty worked with the Engineering Department of Monsanto's Plastics Division, including R. P. Whittier and M. F. Gigliotti.  The house, featuring four symmetric wings cantilevered off a central core, was fabricated with glass-reinforced plastics.

The attraction offered a tour of a [[Unsolved:Home of the future|home of the future]], featuring household appliances such as [[Physics:Microwave oven|microwave oven]]s, which eventually became commonplace.<ref name=Mental_Floss>{{cite web|title=Inside Monsanto's House of the Future, 1957|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/12908/inside-monsantos-house-future-1957|website=Mental_Floss|accessdate=6 November 2015}}</ref>  The house saw over 435,000 visitors within the first six weeks of opening, and ultimately saw over 20 million visitors before being closed.<ref name=Disney>{{cite web|title=Living in the Monsanto House of the Future|url=http://www.disneyavenue.com/2015/05/living-in-monsanto-house-of-future.html|website=Disney Avenue|accessdate=May 5, 2015}}</ref>

The house closed in 1967. The building was so sturdy that when demolition crews failed to demolish the house using wrecking balls, torches, chainsaws and jackhammers, the building was ultimately demolished using choker chains to crush it into smaller parts.  The plastic structure was so strong that the half-inch steel bolts used to mount it to its foundation broke before the structure itself did.<ref name=Weinstein>{{cite web|last1=Weinstein|first1=Dave|title=Plastic Fantastic Living Disneyland's spectacular 'Monsanto House of the Future' combined science, showmanship and dreams|url=http://www.eichlernetwork.com/article/plastic-fantastic-living?page=0,0|website=Eichler Network|accessdate=9 November 2015}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

The reinforced concrete foundation was never removed, and remains in its original location, now the Pixie Hollow, where it has been painted green and is used as a planter.<ref name=Yesterland>{{cite web|title=Homage to the House of the Future|url=http://www.yesterland.com/homages.html|website=Yesterland|accessdate=7 November 2015}}</ref>

==Rebirth==
The House of the Future has had a significant impact on later design at Disney and Epcot.<ref name=Mannheim/><ref name=Yesterland/> In February 2008, Disney announced it would conceptually bring back the attraction with a more modern and accessible interior. The $15 million '''Innoventions Dream Home''' was a collaboration of the Walt Disney Company, [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]], [[Company:Hewlett-Packard|Hewlett-Packard]], software maker LifeWare, and homebuilder Taylor Morrison.<ref name=Flaccus>{{cite news|last1=Flaccus |first1=Gillian |title=Disney Revives 'House of the Future' |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sns-ap-disneyland-futuristic-house,0,3848749.story |accessdate=31 March 2015 |publisher=Sun Sentinel |date=13 February 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217070624/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sns-ap-disneyland-futuristic-house%2C0%2C3848749.story |archivedate=17 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2010, MIT Museum Architecture Curator Gary Van Zante gave a presentation on campus where he showed archived drawings and photographs of the plastic house. The talk, titled ''Back to the Future: A 1950s House of the Future'', was part of the Cambridge Science Festival.<ref name=Marcott>{{cite web |url=http://alum.mit.edu/pages/sliceofmit/2010/04/30/monsanto_mit_house/ |title=Houses: Make Mine Small, Modular, and Made of Plastic |first=Amy |last=Marcott |date=30 April 2010 |publisher=MIT Alumni Association}}</ref>

==See also==
* List of former Disneyland attractions

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.yesterland.com/futurehouse.html Monsanto House of the Future at Yesterland]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060831081429/http://www.jetsetmodern.com/architecture.htm Jetsetmodern references to: House of the Future, Xanadu etc.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060827010343/http://architecture.mit.edu/house_n/web/resources/links/otherhousesofthefuture.html Homes of the Future of the Past] The pages listed on this list of links are partly not available anymore
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VowfYuhx1-o House of the Future, 1957 (on YouTube)]
*[https://mickeymousepark.com/disneyland-attraction.aspx?Page=3&Ident=467 Mickey Mouse Park Information on the Monsanto House of the Future]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsanto House Of The Future}}
[[Category:Futurology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Monsanto House of the Future|1}}