We may have found the most futuristic piece of real estate in Chicago. Filled to the brim with repurposed furniture, museum artifacts and gadgets galore, the Museum of Science and Industry's 2012 Smart Home (admission is $8 plus the $15 general admission) is an ode to the way we'll all live when we really go green.
Designed by the architect Michelle Kaufmann and built on museum grounds (complete with its own "Smart Park" yard) in 2008, the modular home gets a makeover every year.
The most recent update is a collaboration between the Chicago interiors store Scout and the tech blog Gizmodo: Light fixtures made from old globes and a dining table that was once a steel plant workstation are juxtaposed with an energy monitor that manages consumption in every room and shades that automatically lower when the sun heats things up. In the kitchen, an immersion circulator demonstrates the sous-vide cooking technique so beloved by top chefs and, outside, an impressive vertical garden completes the picture.
This house makes so much sense that we're thinking about moving in.
Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive; 773.684.1414 or msichicago.org
