The Futuro House
The Futuro House is a round, prefabricated house that was designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968. About 100 of the kits were erected around the world, and you’d know if you saw one – because they look exactly like perfect little flying saucers from some 50s B-movie.
Royse City Fututo, one of three surviving in Texas
Built from fibreglass-reinforced polyester-plastic, Futuros are around 4 metres high by 8 metres across, and have super-cool airplane-style hatch entrances.
Waterside Futuro in Berlin, Germany
Suuronen’s aim was actually to design a ski-cabin1, one that would be “quick to heat and easy to construct in rough terrain”, and in this respect he succeeded – a Futuro House can be placed on virtually any terrain, requiring only four concrete supports, and thanks to the integrated polyurethane insulation and electric heating system, even in the most extreme conditions it only takes around thirty minutes to achieve a comfortable temperature inside.
Futuro as part of the Canberra Space Dome & Observatory, Australia
Despite the obvious awesomeness of these UFO-shaped homes, by the mid 70s they had been withdrawn from sale – although this was mainly due to the 1973 oil crisis, which had sent the price of plastic skyrocketing.
Front and back of the Pensacola Beach Futuro House, Florida2
Around sixty of the original Futuros have been accounted for over the years, but there are still many that remain undiscovered. The most complete archive is at futuro-house.net (there’s another with an embedded map at archinform.net), but it seems to have been left to stagnate for a number of years – perhaps Google Earth will provide the means for all of the missing Futuros to be rediscovered?
Double Futuro House, Franklin, Ohio
It should also be pointed out that the moulds for making Futuros apparently still exist… about time for a revival don’t you think?
Futuro in Covington, Kentucky
Here’s an article that includes a floor plan, some images of a Futuro being helicoptered into position, as well as some great shots of people inside.
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In fact there’s still at least one existing Futuro that lives on as a ski-cabin in Russia. ↩
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Pensacola Beach is also home to the Dome of a Home. ↩
So “brand new”...” 
There’s one of these on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as well. Here’s the map: Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth and here’s a picture a took a few summers ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikikomori/819429615/
There’s one here in Tampa, Fl that’s being used as a Champagne Room in a strip club called 2001 Odyssey. A good view can be seen here:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Strippers from the future! Sounds amazing
Although it’s about time they updated the name… given how long ago 2001 was.
LOL I was just fixin’ to comment about the Tampa one, but I see I was beaten to it. It’s been there as long as I can remember, having grown up in Tampa. Being a kid and not understanding strip clubs, I remember thinking that place looked really cool. Now, it looks like a dump.
Yeah, there’s one in Delaware as well. I’ve got some decent flickr photos of it (as well as a floorplan and a vintage ad):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaszeta/tags/futuro
They’re awesome! Imagine having such an entrance…
They do remind me a bit of the golf-ball-shaped houses that were featured here before.
There is another one in Danvers Illinois. It’s Mine.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Check out http://www.futuro-house.net for everything Futuro.
Has anyone been in one? They seem kind of smallish.
Apparently they have a total interior volume of 140 cubic metres, which sounds big, but probably isn’t…
http://www.kiasma.fi/site/pop/pop.php?tid=57
There is also one in Denmark in a town Called Ishøj. The cool thing about this one, is that it is a house boat. Kinda cool to live in a floating UFO.
Check it out Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Sorry. Check it out here: Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
hi.. did anyone find this futuro in denmark? all i get when i try to see it is a place out in middle of ocean… thanks.. len
http://www.futurohouse.com
Ahhh, the Futuro House must explain this then:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Wanting to buy a futuro house please email me if you know of one for sale