| Title |
Envisioning Plastic as Architecture in the Early Years of Plastic |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.2.245 |
| Keywords |
Plastic; House of the Future; Materiality; Smithson; Monsanto |
| Abstract |
This study examines two houses from around 1956 as a dialogue that explores early architectural interpretations of plastic as a material. The
discussion considers plastic both as a physical substance and as a concept shaped by the cultural context in which it was understood and
applied. It also examines how architecture responded to this newly introduced material by expressing emerging values and visions of future
building practices. As a building material, plastic attracted growing interest among architects due to its capacity to be molded into almost any
form. Around 1956, several notable attempts brought plastic into architectural discourse, including two future-oriented houses that challenged
conventional ideas of domestic space through the unique properties of plastic. The House of the Future (1956) by Peter and Alison Smithson
and The House of the Future (1956-57), commissioned by Monsanto, explored the architectural potential and material integrity of plastic in
both similar and contrasting ways. These projects conveyed optimism about plastic's possibilities while also revealing its limitations and the
dilemmas it posed as a material for future architecture. |