Future Proof

'Science fiction has a funny habit of becoming science fact'¹ - William S. Burroughs

'Hi-Tech' would by it's nature soon become out-of-date as technology moved with the times, so as an 'architectural style', could only ever be a fad or short term solution. At the same time any building that contains the latest components could be termed 'Hi-Tech'. Hardwick Hall - 'more glass than wall', would have been Hi-Tech in 576-97.  The pursuit of technology in building is nothing new - it is the terminology to promote ideas that is new.

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, England by Robert Smythson

      With the 'intrinsic flight into the future' ², it is now common to hear architects claim that their buildings are 'future-proof'³ – although, as we have very little idea about what the mirage of the future will bring, it is a slightly odd claim. It might be 'characteristic of the development of ideas that they do not appear as memories pointing to something that is past, but as expectations directed towards the future'⁴, but how could the design of an office be 'future proof' if in the future everyone worked from home? We simply don't know what will happen. A school may claim to be a future proof design and yet in the future all teaching may be via a computer terminal at home: It would make good economic sense for both government and individual families: The value of buildings would also no longer be inflated by their proximity to the 'best schools'; It would relieve traffic congestion, lower emissions, slow the spread of infections, stop class disruption, bullying and student shootings – it could also possibly improve education as the best teachers could reach the maximum amount of pupils via a medium that is known to engage their interest. Under such a future scenario the building would become redundant and what might be needed in its place would be more green space on which to socialize and play games. The claim that a building is 'future proof' rests on the fact that nobody knows what will happen.

What could be said of many modern buildings is that they have become less 'future proof', designed more as stand alone 'art objects', they tend to be less adaptable: When some large office blocks on Canary Wharf (London) remained empty at the end of the 1980s, one building owner complained, “a Nash terrace in Nottinghill Gate could be designed as a house, converted to offices, then to flats, it moves with the market – but what can I do with an acre of open plan office space when no one wants it?”

Oddly, what might in reality be the most 'future proof' of building types could be the timber frame buildings that were constructed in 1250 and are still here in 2013. These buildings might not look futuristic, but they were the original pre-fab kit houses and have withstood the test of time and are still sought after centuries after their creation. All that the architects of today mean by the term 'future proof', is that access can be gained so that the 'short-life parts of the building can be changed and its total lifespan can be extended'⁵. Changing a few wires does not make a building 'future proof' – especially if everything goes wireless. As Winston Churchill said, “It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see'⁶.

Futurist pre-fab housing circa 1250 AD

Alex King is an architect and his design 'Santiago Townhouse' won the British Homes Awards in 2011 - Alex King Design / Designalexable, examples of his latest work can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yGQhlRz8mc

1 'The adding machine & other essays'. William S. Burroughs 1985 ISBN 0-7145-4073-0.

2 'intrinsic flight to the future' – Hegel's technological concept of history suggests that 'progress' has become mixed up with both technical progress and Darwinian evolution. This 'history underpins a technological bias of practice, often at the expense of architecture and making places for “life and action” - 'Architecture Re-assembled'. Trevor Garnham. 2013. Routledge.

3 The term 'future-proof' was mentioned by Norman Foster in his German TED Talks Lecture, it appears in Richard Rogers 'Architecture – a modern view' and has recently made an appearance in the RIBA Journal and other architectural publications. For architects the idea of the future has a long history - 'But in human beings the awareness of the future undergoes the same characteristic change of meaning which we have noted with regard to ideas of the past. The future is not only an image; it becomes an “ideal”... This belongs to the realm of prudence, not to that of wisdom. The term “prudence” (prudentia) is etymologically connected to “providence” (providentia). It means the ability to forsee future events and to prepare for future needs' ('An essay on man'. Ernst Cassirer. P54-55. 1944. Yale University Press). This is a theoretical idea of the future, a symbolic future, more akin to expectation.

4 'An essay on man'. Ernst Cassirer. P53 1944. Yale University Press. Original quote: William Stern.

5 'Architecture - a Modern View'. Richard Rogers. P53 1991 ISBN 0-500-27651-x

6 'The wicked wit of Winston Churchill'. Dominique Enright. P146. 2001. ISBN 978-1-85479-529-8.