5 ms·
You can see a real life example of this bathroom (installed in an actual Dymaxion house) at the Henry Ford Museum outside of Detroit. I haven't been to see it
by mumblemumble 4y ago
You can see a real life example of this bathroom (installed in an actual Dymaxion house) at the Henry Ford Museum outside of Detroit.
I haven't been to see it in a while, but, as I recall, my general impression was that the bathroom had a bunch of interesting ideas that all came together in a way that sort of nosed out overall livability/ergonomics for the humans who might want to use it.
Some of these ideas would seem to live on in the bathrooms of modern sailing boats, but a 12 meter yacht imposes some constraints that mean that sacrificing on comfort in the interest of space efficiency is unavoidable.
I also suspect that, much like RVs or the apartments units in the Nagakin Capsule Tower, repairability and modifiability have been compromised in the design. Meaning that the whole thing should probably be considered somewhat disposable: past a certain point, the only reasonable option is to scrap the whole thing and order a new one from the factory. With typical bathroom designs, the initial construction cost may be high, but, later on, if only the toilet is broken, you have the option to replace only the toilet.
- lazide 4y agoIt’s basically the buckminster fuller style - space age, theoretically interesting, but not actually useful or as good as it seems when you try using it for any length of time. The geodesic houses were the same.
- TylerE 4y agoSounds a bit like FLW too… amazing design gbs to look at, but by many reports fairly miserable to live in.
- a9h74j 4y agoSaid IIRC with FLW or similar in mind: "An architect can like a chair never having sat in it."
- rmccue 4y agoI think it’s beyond just nice to look at, they’re both trying to push the boundaries in really interesting ways, and question the status quo. Only problem is, alpha versions always suck. The good ideas survive though.
- pmarreck 4y agoI've always wanted to visit Fallingwater. Hopefully they reopened interior tours after the pandemic by now.
- kamranjon 4y agoWent last year - was a great experience.
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoAt least his buildings are decent to look at. Frank Gehry's buildings don't even manage that.
- throwaway290 4y ago> The Phelps Dodge Corporation was to produce the bathrooms but they were met with resistance from plumbers fearful of losing their jobs and so the bathrooms were never produced. Say whatever you want about possible issues in real use, they are not why it didn't see the light of market and couldn't even compete or improve...
- lazide 4y agoSays the story propagated by the guy (Buckminster) notorious for spinning conspiracies as to why his product never made it commercially. Every one of his ideas has a story like that associated with it. Personally, I've never met a plumber with that kind of pull, or the kind of time or interest to think up such a thing. They generally get hired to do work, and they never have any shortage of it. They were all too busy plumbing. And my grandfather was a union plumber and pipefitter for several decades shortly after the time that idea got shot down. But it sure sounds good as an excuse doesn't it? And maybe the union heads or the folks managing the building codes (technically plumbers? though usually not) did, but your typical actual plumber would just shrug.
- throwaway290 4y agoI don't know how you would assume I would be talking about a single plumber. Yes, it's unions or other ways of collective influence. don't know anything else about the guy except that his map projection has been my favourite for years
- lazide 4y agoYou might want to look into him. He has a habit of making ‘looks cool, impractical or a pain in the ass in practice’ things, then blaming conspiracies for why it didn’t catch on.
- throwaway290 4y agoThe only two things of his I know is the map and this bathroom both of which strike me as practical. Whether were plumbers against it or not you have supplied no evidence. Occasionally it turns out a conspiracy is not a conspiracy...
- ineptech 4y ago> I also suspect that, much like RVs or the apartments units in the Nagakin Capsule Tower, repairability and modifiability have been compromised in the design. I think it makes more sense if you think of it as a bottom of the barrel option, say for jails or airports or public housing, rather than an ill-considered attempt to replace the washrooms in suburban houses. A Minimum Viable Bathroom, if you will, that could've been stamped out by the millions in an alternate timeline where the US decided to build council housing.
- balaji1 4y agoHas someone called out the Porter potty cartel/monopoly in any other comment?