The house of the future or dreaming is allowed.

My husband and I worked together for many years in order to make our dream of having a homestead come true. Two children grew up in it and it also harbours my beloved mother. Until today we have been living very much satisfied within our four light-flooded walls. Constructed in 1989, our house was equipped with the necessary comfort: spacious rooms, central heating, an open fireplace in the living room, a flat for mother and an extended attic where the children could lark about. Yes, we had even thought about roller blinds with a built-in time switch and an electric sun canopy. With these things, we had laid a solid basis for a happy and life long togetherness.

But we had not reckoned with the innovative and slightly futuristic enterprises presenting us with the house of the future 2007. From the outside, it looked just like our traditional detached house but behind the façade, there appeared a galactic house technology of infinite dimensions.
Behind bright fair faced concrete walls we find ourselves in the “Event Hall”; a long drawn out counter above which there are flat screens let into the wall – testifying to a Microsoft Network joining all the computers, telephone and screens in the building together through the help of electro magnetic waves. Wireless news about events, the restaurant menu – everything is possible.
Self opening doors, automatic light switches and roller blinds that “think” all belong to everyday life. Photovoltaic modules assure the electric current supply. The information and communication technology makes the mirror in the bathroom speak, an LCD TV saves us from getting bored while having a shower. In the living room, we are welcomed by a hi-fi system combined with a flat screen which is so big you need a delivery van to transport it. Wireless technology will read the bar code on food. When a housewife holds a packet of Italian noodles under the scanner of her electronic pin board, her computer depicts several ways to prepare them. If she wishes, the lady of the house can start a video in which a good-humoured TV Chef shows what you can do with a packet of noodles.
The age of intelligent habitation has therefore already dawned, but will we still have interpersonal relationships in our families in the future?

Maoussi (Luxembourg)