Alfred E. De Martini (1916-2005) was a well known graphic artist, entrepreneur and civic activist. The De Martini Graphic Design Collection gathers together many examples of De Martini's work.
TheFuturoHouse.com recently acquired Volume E/F of the collection and this includes several Futuro related items. At some point we will likely remove and preserve the Futuro items and attempt to reunite the volume with the remainder of the collection but for now it will remain a part of the collections of
TheFuturoHouse.com.
It is unclear whether the collection was created and maintained by De Martini himself though we tend to think it was put together later. As far as the Futuro section is concerned we have no information as to whether De Martini was actually contracted to do any Futuro design related work or if his concept drawings and apparent interest in the Futuro House were something he worked on himself, perhaps with a plan to later offer that work to someone involved with Futuro. If he was retained to do any work you would have to assume that it would have been for the Futuro Corporation Of Philadelphia.

The first three pages of Futuro related material (left & below) contain various color drawings depicting ideas and designs for the interior of a Futuro. The first of these pages is titled "Conceptual Studies For Futuro Interior".
The conceptual design appears to devote a one quarter section of the Futuro to an enclosed bedroom and bathroom with the remainder of the unit being "open plan". There appear to be a couple of alternatives depicted for the space above the bedroom and bathroom; in several drawings it appears that the roof of this section would be lowered with storage space above while in the last drawing the bedroom and bathroom are denoted as having an "open ceiling".
The next couple of pages of the volume contain a number of rudimentary conceptual drawings (or perhaps they would be more accurately termed sketches).

The first of these is a single page with three sketches of different exterior configurations; they appear to depict a "standard" support structure and then two views of a pair of Futuros mounted on a higher structure featuring a "walkway" between the two units and access to them being a single set of steps to the central walkway.
The second page contains a set of seven sketches that appear to depict various different internal configurations that might be considered for a Futuro. Among others those configurations include different numbers of bedrooms, centrally located kitchens and kitchens located along the external wall of the unit and configurations where most of the interior of the unit is "open plan" along with some where most of the interior is broken into various "enclosed" spaces.
Though none of the drawings are annotated or identified in any way (meaning the identity of the artist is "technically" unknown) it does seem reasonable to assume the drawings were by De Martini.

The next group of pages contains a seemingly random collection of items. There are three examples of the same 9" by 4" color tri-fold brochure on three sequential pages.
The Charles Cleworth Futuro House Archive also contains an example of this brochure and photos of the front, back and inside can be found
here.
In addition to the brochure the first of these pages contains a plan and section of a Futuro House; this actually appears to be a larger example of the same plan and section that can be seen on the back of the tri-fold brochure.
On the next page, in addition to the brochure, we find a newspaper clipping dating from 053069. The publication is not identified but it is almost certainly a Philadelphia newspaper; the article talks about the Futuro making its US debut the following Tuesday at 17th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway and as we know Futuro started out its US journey in Philadelphia.
Finally in this section we have a magazine article. The article, titled "A Lunar Capsule For Earthbound Fun", is from the September 1969 issue of American Home magazine. We have a copy of this magazine in our collection of "
Things Futuro" and more details, along with photos, can be found
here.
The final "Futuro" pages in the volume contain a series of seven approx. 10" by 8" photographs. There are two black and white photos and five color ones. These photographs are clearly not photographs that were taken by De Martini; some are iconic photographs that have been published multiple times and in multiple media while another is of
Hirvensalmi and it is extremely unlikely that De Martine would have shot all of these photographs.
The two black and white photographs are interior shots of a Futuro; one of the shots (cropped) is used in the brochure referenced above and included in this collection.
The color photographs include color prints of the two black and white photographs seen above, a photograph depicting the often seen "mock up" of multiple Futuros on a rocky mountain slope (the "
Sandbox"), a photograph of
Hirvensalmi (also used in the brochure referenced earlier) and a print of an iconic and often used photograph of the first US Futuro on display at Philadelphia airport under a crescent moon.
In 1974 the
Bank Of New Zealand used one of two Futuros located at the
1974 British Commonwealth Games which ran from 012474 - 020274 as a branch office. The Futuros were located at the games main venue,
Queen Elizabeth II Park in
Christchurch,
New Zealand.
Back in April 2014 Nick McQuoid (owner of three Futuros, two in
Rangiora currently in the process of restoration and one disassembled and in storage in
Invercargill) received some interesting photos and documents from the Bank Of New Zealand which he posted to Facebook
here (Nick; as always thanks for sharing).
The two photos below show the Futuro used by the Bank Of New Zealand.

Once the games were over the Futuros were put up for sale. The document at left invites tenders for the two Futuros; one Golden Yellow (as seen in the photos) and the other Kentucky Blue.
The document was issued by Futuro Homes (NZ) Limited and not by the Bank Of New Zealand. Purely conjecture but it to us seems very likely that the unit was loaned to, rather than purchased by, the Bank Of New Zealand. Given the high profile event at which they were located (and the short duration of that event) this would surely have been seen as a great marketing opportunity.
The remaining documents include a pricing sheet, a fact sheet and a list of general specifications. Finally there is a marketing brochure which, while having different text and being issued by a different company (the Futuro Corporation Pty. Ltd.), is essentially the same brochure as one that is included in the
Brett Colquhoun Archive.
Update 120521
Every now and again Brett Colquhoun comes across a new "gem" and here we have his latest find; an interesting clipping of ad that appeared in a 1974 issue of Woman's World. As always Brett thanks so much for sharing your "Futuro treasures".
The ad's premise is a little unusual and one we have not seen before as it starts out by suggesting "Even wild horses could not drag you to holiday anywhere else after you spent the first weekend in the 20th century home ..."
Marketing materials for the original Polykem manufactured Futuros always listed the Futuro as being capable of sleeping 8. We always thought that was a little much given the actual size of a Futuro; certainly you would need to know the people you were sharing with very well in our opinion. That said this ad seems to suggest that number could go as high as 10 with two double bedrooms as an option and then an additional 6 folks sleeping in the living room. All we can say is that we think that would be extremely "cozy" to say the least.
The photo used in the ad is an iconic and often seen photo of
Futuro #001 during its days in Hirvensalmi.
Update 100415
Brett Colquhoun recently sent us these two photos.
Brett tells us the photos were taken in the early 70's at Doncaster Shoppingtown (now
Westfield Doncaster) in
Doncaster, a
Melboure, Victoria suburb some 15km or so east of Melbourne's
Central Business District.
Given the fact the unit was located at a large shopping center (and that there was at least one other portable housing unit on display based on the second photo) this was likely a temporary exhibition or marketing event rather than the location of a Futuro that someone had purchased and located on their property.
That said it is clearly a site at which a Futuro was located even if only for a short time and the subsequent fate of that Futuro is currently unknown so in the strictest sense it fits the bill as a "Lost Soul" and as such we have also added this Futuro to the "
Lost Souls" page.

Brett also sent us the photo at left which he tells us was shot by his father in the early 70's while on a trip to the USA.
Our first reaction to this was that it was likely a photo of the first USA manufactured Futuro when it was on display at Philadelphia Airport; not entirely sure why but for some reason that is what it reminded us of. However having looked a little further at photos of Philadelphia Airport (one example can be found
here) we no longer consider this a possibility for several reasons:
- Philadelphia was a dark blue color and while this is a black and white photo the color seems to us to be too light to match.
- The Futuro displayed at Philadelphia Airport was mounted on the European style of support ring while US Futuros generally have the support struts passing through the outer sections and mounted to the internal frame. This photo is small and even blown up it is hard to tell but it looks to us like this has the standard USA support structure.
- We wondered if the road like features in the background of the photograph might be airport taxi-ways. Looking at the blown up version of the photo these almost look like they may be water.
We have amassed several thousand Futuro photographs and we have somewhat aging and ailing memories so currently we cannot identify this Futuro and so it is also being added to the "
Unknown Locations" section of this website. If anyone is able to identify this location please
let us know.
Original Information 020715

A little while ago Ting-Na Wang pointed us to some interesting photos posted on
Instagram by Brett Colquhoun. We contacted Brett and he was kind enough to share a little information and some additional photographs.
Brett's father was heavily involved with Futuro "back in the day" and Brett tells us that his:
"
... father had the Australian license for Futuro And Venturo in the early 70's and then I think sold it to someone in New Zealand."
During the time he was involved with Futuro Brett's father accumulated several interesting photos and other items and it is those that Brett shared. Among the items was this Futuro House Brochure that we do not recall seeing before (though as those of you who visit these pages with any regularity know the memory is a little suspect). The brochure was from a company (or at least a company and location combination) we had not come across before (with the requisite nod to the aforementioned memory); Futuro Corporation Pty. Ltd,
Albury,
NSW.

A Google search for the company brought up just a few results one of which was a
Sydney Morning Herald article (at left) from 040972 (accessible on Google
here).
The article briefly mentions Futuro and it includes a statement to the effect that the Futuro Corporation would be building a house in an Albury suburb.
We have never seen a photograph of a Futuro House located in Albury (and we are not aware of any documentation that proves the house was ever constructed). That said the photo below, included in those that Brett sent us, is of a Futuro House in a location unknown to us and it is at least possible that it shows the one referred to in the article.

Also included among the items Brett sent us was the photo at left of a "Compliments Card" also from the Futuro Corporation Pty. Ltd.
The address is again Albury, NSW though the street address, 520 Swift Street, is different from that in the brochure (the brochure lists 545 Dean Street).
Based on the street address seen on the "Compliments Card" and one of the other Google search results it seems that the Futuro name lives on decades after manufacturing of the Futuro House ended. The search result is a listing for a company at the 520 Swift Street address; that company is
Futuro Financial Services (though oddly the website listed points to a company called
DLG Aluminium & Glazing at a different address in Albury).
Also included in the photos Brett sent were the two below. The exterior photo is clearly a shot of the "
Willeton Futuro" at its original location (that Futuro is now disassembled in a back yard in
High Wycombe,
Perth,
Australia). The interior shot though not specifically identified as such, is most likely a shot of the interior of the "Willeton Futuro".

Other photos from Brett include the photo at left of
Futuro #001 during its time in
Hirvensalmi; Futuro #001 is now of course fully restored and part of the collection of the
WeeGee Exhibition Center in
Espoo,
Finland.
Brett's collection also includes the four photos below. Hirvensalmi was again featured in one of these (the first) and to the right of that is a photo of
Futuro #000 during the time it was located in
Turenki.
These two well-known photos have featured in various mediums including appearing on a
pair of postcards sold as souvenirs by the
Museum Of Finnish Architecture in
Helsinki, Finland (though the Hirvensalmi photo is rotated 180° compared to the postcard).
The last two photos show
Futuro #002 while located on Lake Lahnajärvi and a Futuro located at the Polykem plant respectively.
The final two photos are an interior shot of a Futuro and a photo showing the sections of a disassembled Futuro; could be a unit disassembled for relocation though we think it is more likely it is a photo taken at the time of manufacture. The location of these two shots is not known. Both of these photos also show Brett's father.
A big thanks to Brett for sharing these items and allowing us to include them here.