The Futuro House

On 112168 Matti J. Suuronen applied for a patent in the US for the Futuro House (assigned to Polykem AB). The patent was issued 021070 as US Patent # D216542 and this patent is shown below. The patent can be accessed online here (Google Patents/Books) and if you wish you can download a the patent as a pdf file.

The website Koussinus.fr appears to be both a Gallery and Storefront for Koussinus, a "Créateur d'objets textiles" or "Creator Of Textile Objects". Though the "Boutique" section of the site states that it is not an ecommerce site it is nevertheless offering items for sale.

What has this to do with the "Futuro Fan"? Well, one of the sections of the site displays pillows embroidered with Futuros; round pillows as shown at left and also regular rectangular pillows; check them out here. The Futuro products page is headed with this "Clin d'œil aux années 60 et à la maison "Futuro" réalisée par l'architecte Matti Suuronen" which I think translates to a "Nod to the 60s and the "Futuro" home designed by architect Matti Suuronen."

Susan Marie Brundage recently posted this photo of a cool Futuro "throw pillow" she created to Instagram; it features the Berlin Futuro.

Odd coincidences happen from time to time. One such was our coming across this "Futuro House Pumpkin" on Instagram just a few days before Halloween 2016. It was posted to Instagram by pappastan in 2014.

The Futuro sometimes "pops up" in some unlikely places and for us this is one of those times. We came across this on Instagram recently; a Futuro featuring on a quilt (looks like a work in progress) posted to Instagram by Claire Wiseman aka westcoastcinnamongirl.

This interesting work is by arkfm_; the original can be found on Instagram here.

We love this work by @art_yom_3d; the original can be found on Instagram here.

This rather cool 3D rendering of a Futuro is by @sarinville; the original can be found on Instagram here.

Justin Adams describes himself as "Automotive designer who also works with marine and aerospace projects". He has recently been working on a Futuro House CAD project and has placed his work on GrabCAD. Justin also kindly agreed to let us share his work here. Below are examples of this work; it is impressive how realistic these images appear. You can also access Justin's 3-D Model here (note this requires IE11 or Chrome; not too sure about other browsers). Thanks for sharing your work Justin.

This nice set of renderings is the work of Mitch Bailey. More information and the original renderings can be found on artstation.com.

This whimsical work, clearly inspired by the Futuro House, was posted to Instagram 012019 by Grace Casas.

There is an almost surreal feel to this set of renderings by Henri Dillard (aka @studio_codequantum). The originals can be found on Instagram here.

Lawrence D'Oliveiro posted this very cool rendering of the interior of a Futuro House on Vimeo.

These rather nice CGI renderings are by Edgar Arellano. The originals can be found on Instagram here.

Update 040316

An 031416 article on the website graphisoft.no provided a little background on the work Ole Grødem did in ArchiCAD that led to the BIMxPro 3D model referenced below. That article included the rather cool rendered images from ArchiCAD shown below.







Original Information 050915

Ole Grødem recently added a rather cool project entitled "Futuro Recreation" to the website bimx.graphisoft.com which is a 3D rendering of a Futuro House that is navigable and includes not only the exterior but also the interior of the model. The two screenshots below are captured from the model. To run this requires the download of both a viewer and the Futuro model file itself. Both can be downloaded here.

We came across this work by J. Blake Harris on the site Dribble.com recently.

These two renderings were posted to Instagram 042220 by henriquatre. The first of them immediately puts us in mind of the Saint-Ouen Futuro.

The two images below, by Bernard Huguet, can be found on the website artstation.com; they depict a renedered Futuro in a "real" environment. Interesting coinicidence; one of them depicts a building signed "Bombardier, the Canadian based aerospace company that constructed the molds for the Canadian Futuros (though it appears the building is in Sweden, at least I believe so based on the signs in the photo).

We recently received this set of Futuro renderings from Konstantin; awesome work - thanks for sharing Konstantin.

We really enjoyed seeing these renderings by Yane Markulev. More information and the original renderings can be found on artstation.com.

We came across this rather nice minimalist rendering of the Saint-Ouen Futuro by Dorian Mialou on the site behance.net recently.

We came across the image below the other day on the website Render3d-Italia. We cannot seem to find any information or background on the image (not even who created it) but we thought it had a place here simply because it is a very cool image that features not one but two Futuros.

We recently came across this nice piece of work titled Costa Futura on Instgram. The work is by sr_formica and the original post on Instagram can be found here.

We love this rendering by vizwali_art; the original can be found on Instagram here.

Update 021520

This is the latest in Vladimir Vustyansky's awesome series of Futuro works; Vladimir posted this one to Instagram 021520.



Update 120119

Vladimir Vustyansky continues to work on his Futuro House project. This latest in his awesome series of Futuro renderings can be found on the site cgarchitect.com where Vladimir provides a little information on his inspiration for this latest work:

"The creation of this one is inspired by old movies and stories from my childhood, about adventures and jungles. These beautiful animals on the picture are Okapi and currently they are in danger of extinction, unfortunately."



Update 103019

Following the 101919 addition of a fantastic work by Vladimir Vustyansky to this page Vladimir kindly sent us some additional examples of his Futuro renderings; they are all awesome but we particularly like the first of these three works.







Original Information 101919

This simply awesome Futuro rendering is by Vladimir Vustyansky. The two images were posted to Vladimir's IG feed 100719. Not sure how practical it would be but it sure looks like this would be a stunning look for a real Futuro.

The 10 square meter CF-10 Kiosk was the smallest of Suuronen's designs. Here we see a unit still operating in exactly that manner as a roadside diner/burger bar. Not only is it still operating but based on our visit it is operating quite successfully; during our visit it seemed to have a steady stream of customers.

Update 052415

Marko Home sent us these two photos of a fully renovated Venturo which opened May 2015 in Orimattila, near Lahti, about 100 km from Helsinki. The Venturo will be used as a showroom and conference room by the Keraplast plastic company.

Keraplast manufactures similar products to those once manufactured by Polykem and has sometimes fabricated replacements for Polykem manufactured products. As an example Polykem manufactured the original plastic bubble windows for the roof of the Tapiola swimming hall which was opened in 1965. During a 2008 renovation Keraplast manufactured new "replica" bubble windows to replace the Polykem originals.

The opening of the renovated Futuro was attended by Matti Suuronen's widow and other family members. We think they would have been proud; the quality of the renovation appears to be excellent and showcases Matti Suuronen's vision some 50 years or so after his designs were first turned into reality.





Original Notes 072714

Known as the "Venturo" (see brochure here) the CF-45 is perhaps, after Futuro, the best known of Suuronen's designs and there are many examples still around today. Primarily designed as a modular housing unit the "Venturo", like Futuro, can still be found at multiple sites around the world; perhaps most notably there are multiple examples at the Wanli site in Taiwan.

The photos below, shot 070814, show a suburban Helsinki location where three Venturos are "inter-linked" and form part of the owner's home.

Update 052415

The CF-100 at 100 square meters was the largest of Suuronen's designs and with its "modular" design multiple units could easily be assembled together to create larger floor area structures. In this case, a Service Station in suburban Helsinki, there are two units together creating a single structure still being used as a service station after almost 50 years.

Imaginactive was founded in 2013 by Charles Bombardier and is self-described in this way:

"[Imaginactive] is structured as a non-profit organization and it is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The innovative concept ideas you will find here are meant to be published and shared openly. Charles collaborates with industrial designers from around the world to convert his vision into amazing 3D renderings and animations."

On 080817 a concept titled simply "Futuro" was added to Imaginactive. The concept is described as:

"a theme park ride designed to provide passengers with the experience of a flying saucer ride to Mars. It would be built with Futuro house molds and equipped with VR helmets, hydraulic actuators, and moving seats, which would give the passengers a full spaceship experience.

Upon entering the ride, the passengers would pick a seat and don VR gear. The hydraulic actuators and seats would begin moving, giving the passengers a sensation of upward movement. These feelings would be accompanied by images of the FUTURO lifting into the atmosphere and beyond.

Once past orbital range, the ride would present the passengers with a warp-like effect similar to the one in Star Trek. This would be accompanied by fast-moving space scenery from the windows. The hydraulic actuators and seats could also provide a rumbling sensation. After a while, the warp effect would slow to a stop, leaving a view of Mars from afar.

The FUTURO would then commence a landing sequence, giving the users the sensation of landing on the planet. Once "landed," the FUTURO would stabilize and the passengers could leave their seats. The FUTURO would then move around Mars, giving the passengers a view of the surface and a futuristic settlement."

We are not sure if there is a real intention here to try to actually create this or not. The writer indicates that the original owner of the Finnish Futuro molds has been contacted and that the project would likely cost $100K to bring to fruition. To our knowledge the molds were for sale for $150K and it seems like $100K for the whole thing is, shall we say, a little ambitious but who knows; we shall just have to wait and see.

The awesome graphic renderings below were created for this project by Adolfo Esquivel.

This rather interesting poster, inspired by the Munich Futuro, is by Émil Grenier (aka @superemilyo).

The original poster can be found on Instagram here where its creator describes it this way:

"The Futuro House. I saw one in Munich at the @pinakothekdermoderne and could not get my mind off of it! Decided to make a weird poster out of it. @thefuturohouse #thefuturohouse #futuro #ufo Images: Orkomedix, Jo.Schz and myself."

The Futuro House has inspired all manner of art but this is perhaps the most peculiar we have seen; not entirely sure what its meaning is but it is cool in its own odd way. The work is by Stefan Callert and the original can be found on Instagram here.

"Abduction" by Marcos Nogueira is a rather cool "alien abduction" image that is clearly based on the Royse City Futuro (prior to its 2014 "paint job"). Marcos' original work can be found on the website Deviant Art.

We came across this image on the website Photoshop Creative. The image is the work of Uruguayan artist Adriana Musetti Dávila. Adriana titled her work "Future City" and used this image of the Royse City Futuro as the basis for her work. We think it is an awesome piece of Futuro related art.

These two Futuro images were posted to Flickr by Simon Edwards. The photos are titled "Futuro House Yellow" & "Futuro House Orange" and, while there are no descriptions or information, they are clearly "creations".

This interesting composition, titled Futuro Over Star Theater, was originally created in color by artist Shilo Mcnamee but it was later "given the monochrome treatment" in Photoshop.

The image below was posted to Facebook by Mayhem's ART and MUSIC 071119. Interesting art work presumably created in Photoshop (or some similar software). The only comment attached to the post was "Good Night" and so, while that was not actually specifically called out as the title of the work, that is what we have gone with. Though it is not referenced it seems likely the source image was of Royse City some time prior to its 2014 "facelift".

This work, based on a photo of the Royse City Futuro, is quite one of the strangest we have seen.

The artist is Charlie Frasca and the original post can be found here. The artist did not title the piece but it did have several hashtags among them the "Mudman" we chose to use as a title just because in an odd piece that was probably the oddest part.

This edit of a photo of the LA Futuro is not a particularly radical edit but the result is a rather "atmospheric" image. The image, titled "Out Of This World!", was posted to Instagram 121519 by urbex_offlimits.

The image below is from Facebook and is by Argentinean design team Vibradios. We am not entirely sure what the image represents but it is an interesting composition based, we believe, on the Dombai Futuro.

We recently came across a Reddit post titled "PsBattle: This 1960's Futuro House" which started with a photo of the Marseilles Futuro. The photos below, a selection from the responses to the post, were posted (top to bottom) by BOBALOBAKOF, 241baka, -doitforjohnny-, JoeyTapes, thecrimsonchinwonder, NateSak, MonkeyPost, s123man and What_No_Cookie.

This image of a robot in a field with a Futuro (Frisco) in the background can be found on Pinterest here.

Update 092714

Yves Buysse has made many contributions to these pages and he recently sent me these photos showing how the "Tow Truck" image was likely just an photo taken from a very opportune perspective, almost certainly "by design", rather than being a "manipulated" image.

Yves created his own "reproduction" of the shot with the help of a toy truck and a (very cool) "ufo" lamp. The three photos below show exactly how Yves "constructed" the shot and in doing so demostrated how the photo that appears to show the "Ekå" Futuro on the bed of a tow truck could have been shot.







Original Notes 091414

A week ago we added an update to "The Finnish 20" which referenced, among other things, the photo below. At the time we indicated that we felt the photo looked a little "odd." The other day we came across another very similar photo (above left) on the website tow.se which convinces us even more that the photo below has been edited.

The photo below shows a Futuro on top of a tow truck. However the Futuro is far too small in relation to the size of the truck; if this were a real photo of a real event the Futuro would overhang the side of the tow truck to a far greater extent than that seen in the photo.

It is of course highly unlikely this image is "photoshopped" as it is almost certainly from the 1970's and Photoshop was not created until 1988 (Wikipedia) but given we believe it must be a "manipulated" image we figured we would add it to this section of the site since "photoshopped" seems to have become a term associated with image manipulation in general.

In January 2017 we added a copy of Issue 29 of the Russian magazine Projector to our collection of "Things Futuro". We noted at the time that one of the photos in the magazine was a photo of Futuro #000 during its time in Turenki, Finland. Shortly afterwards Yves Buysse who has made many contributions to these pages pointed out to us that the photo was odd; something we should have noticed ourselves but sadly we are not always the most observant of people.

Take a look at the two photos below. The left photo is the photo published in Projector and on the right is a photo of a postcard we purchased at the Museum Of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki, Finland during a visit in 2014. Both are clearly the same photo but there is a difference; in the Projector photo we see the entrance and lower viewing windows of the Futuro and these are not present in the photo on the postcard.

We are certain that the photo published in Projector has been photoshopped at some time in its life, most likely long before it reached the magazine's publishers, for a number of reasons.

First, the photo on the postcard has been published many times in many different media and it has never shown the entrance and lower viewing windows. In addition the photo published in Projector shows the entrance located directly below one of the windows and it also shows the lower viewing windows located directly beside the entrance and for us this is a problem.

Futuro #000 is currently in the collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands and as a result there is no shortage of photos of this Futuro. Every photo of this Futuro shows that the entrance is located between two windows and that the lower viewing windows are further from the entrance.

In addition the positioning of the entrance directly below a window is typically only seen in US manufactured Futuros and we do not recall seeing the lower viewing windows located right next to the entrance in any of the thousands of Futuro photos in my collection.

We are not too sure why this photo would have been photoshopped in the way it appears to have been but we am absolutely sure that it was.

This work by leiberlschmiede based on the Munich Futuro was posted to Instagram 041419.

Los Angeles based NICO & BULLITT describe themselves as a "Shop and gallery featuring local/indie designers and cool stuff". A promotion for Memorial Day 2019 offered 15% off anything orange, yellow or gold and an Instagram post publicizing the event included this rather cool "two tone" image featuring the Joshua Tree Futuro.

officeheinzelmannayadi posted this photo to Instagram labeled as "Our contribution to 50 years of FUTURO". The photo is clearly inspired by the Martian tripods in HG Wells classic science fiction novel "The War Of The Worlds".

A few days ago we came across the photo below on the website apxu.ru and for a moment (but only for a moment) we thought we had come across a photo of a Futuro in a new location (at least to us). In fact the photo is a photoshopped image of the Pensacola Beach Futuro which used a photo by Jerry Gay (above left) as its source.

This Joshua Tree inspired "mash up" of two different photos has an almost ethereal feel to it. The work is by Hi-Desert Film Lab and the original can be found on Instagram here.

Update 072719

No idea if this was the sole reason for the construction of this Futuro replica but this series of photos, posted to Instagram by whystudio95, shows us that the (or one of the) uses of the replica was as the backdrop for, what appears to me at least, some sort of space/alien themed fashion shoot.



















Update 071319

This awesome time lapse video showing the assembly of this Futuro replica was posted to Instagram 062019 by whyproduction.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @whyproduction on Jun 20, 2019 at 5:46am PDT

Original Information 061519

The series of photos below, posted to Instagram during the period 051519 through 060319 by whyparkgz, show the assembly and completed shell of what at first glance was a Futuro located in Guangzhou, China; that of course was rather exciting (at least to a Futuro nerds such as ourselves) given we had never heard of a Futuro in China.

However, looking at the photos more closely it became apparent, for various reasons, that the photos were actually of a replica of a Futuro and not an actual Futuro. A few of the indications:

• The shell segments appear to be too thin as can be seen in the first and second photos
• The internal structure of the segments differs from that of an original Futuro; note the "rib" that can be seen close to the top of the interior of the second from left segment in the first photo and the "ribbing" that can be seen on the interior of the shell segments in the fourth and fifth photos
• The construction of the entry door and steps clearly differs from that of an original Futuro as can be seen in the seventh photo

Several Google searches have not revealed anything additional about this replica and its purpose (or whether we see the start of an attempt to manufacture and market a "modern Futuro") though one interesting thing did pop up; a search on the string "Guangzhou, China Future replica" does not return anything about a Futuro replica but it does return several results about the manufacture of fake watches, bags, medicines and other fake products - coincidence? Who knows.

If you do happen to anything about this replica (or feel our assessment is inaccurate and that, in fact, we do have a Futuro in China) we would love to hear from you; we can be contacted directly by email or you can use our Contact Form.

irati.rua posted this photo to Instagram of a tattoo obviously inspired by "Futuro 22".

Ron Shipp posted this photo of a very cool Futuro tattoo to Instagram 090622. Looks like it was probably inspired by the Joshua Tree Futuro.

schnolli_pokes posted this photo of a Futuro inspired tattoo 040620.

The Berlin Futuro served as a set in a German children's TV series, Terra Max (German | Google Translate to English here). It was used as a backdrop for outdoor scenes and the interior was staged as a kind of "mad scientist's laboratory". For more information see the Berlin Futuro page.

The image below shows the Futuro as it appeared in the TV Series.

You know you are getting older when you look at something, don't really understand it, and conclude it is something definitely "for kids". We have absolutely no idea what this website is all about or what anyone would be doing on it other than folks like us wondering what someone would be doing on such a website.

On the site Curtis Amusements tells us that "First and foremost, it's about having fun. It's also about publicity, and if you're reading this, it's working. Curtis Amusements creates and develops entertainment content, and unlike some other outfits that claim they do too, we'll actually try to entertain you while you visit our website (not just throw a bit of sliding text and a blaring tune in your face and leave it at that).

Whatever it is all about the designers of the site chose to use the Futuro as the basis for some of their graphical imagery as shown in the two screen captures below.

Not entirely sure just how practical this piece of jewelry is but it is certainly creative and given its inspiration is the Futuro House it rightfully earns a place on this page.

It's creator Aleena Derohanian (@nuxxvomicaa) posted the video below to Instagram 122319 with the description:

"Little video of the "To a Future that Never Was" ring, the blue house was designed to slide back and forth along the acrylic, since the original #futurohouse was designed to be portable."

In 1971 Finland issued a stamp to commemorate the plastics industry; the stamp featured the Futuro House (Scott # 0190-0511). The stamp was issued 102071.

Shown below is our collection of these stamps at the time of writing (a description of each type of example can be found here). There are at least two other different First Day Covers that we know of; if you have a First Day Cover different to the one shown or know of one for sale please let us know.

We came across this rather awesome Futuro styled Pet Bed the other day on Instagram. The concept (at least we think it is just a concept and not a "real thing") is by Georgia Hatton and the original photo (and a couple of other color versions) can be found on Instagram here. We have two small dogs and we likely would be among the first in line if this ever went from concept to reality!

Update 072918

Every spaceflight needs a mission patch right? It seems so! Konstantin Landuris recently posted this to his Instagram feed.



Original Information

This video, titled "Futuro Spaceflight", was created by artist Konstantin Landuris in conjunction with the Pinakothek der Moderne and Protolabs; the Futuro House seen in the video is of course the Munich Futuro located at the Pinakothek der Moderne and the Futuro model was created by Protolabs.

We love the Futuro influence on this water tower paint job. Thanks to ambassadorgraphics for posting this photo of the water tower at N Haynes and Cervantes in Pensacola to Instagram.

This "Alien Shirt" is by Edith Boucher. It is available for purchase from Eddy's Mini Mart at $30 a pop.

Update 123122

This City of Melville playground project was recently completed and opened to the public. Anthony Tran (aka @antzpantz_) posted the photos below of the Futuro inspired centerpiece.