Please use these links to get the links below to get the latest content and update any links or bookmarks you might have.
LATEST VERSION OF THIS PAGE | LATEST SITE UPDATE LIST | THE NEW HOMEPAGE
UPDATED 081713 | ADDED 092911 | FUTURO "MYTHS & LEGENDS" | RETURN TO THE MAIN FUTURO HOUSE ARTICLE | RETURN HOME
|
Current Status Of Unconfirmed Futuro "Sightings" | The Possible, The Unlikely, The Unclear & The Debunked
|
||
|
DEBUNKED | 11374 Tara Dr, Plantation, FL 33325, USA | 092911
A Futuro reported at 11374 Tara Dr, Plantation, FL 33325, USA is not a Futuro though I have to confess at the time I would also have confirmed
a Futuro. Google Earth, Google Maps, "Street View" and so on are great tools for determining what is and is not fact as far as Futuro's are
concerned, particularly "Street View" which is relatively recent. Those tools appeared to support this as a Futuro in the past, now they
definitely do not.
The Futuro report was "confirmed" in Google Earth, the imagery being used at the time was dated 113005 - this is the screen shot from Google earth that "confirmed" the Futuro. 
I think you will agree that the screen shot certainly looks like there is a Futuro at the location. You can access the exact same imagery in Google Earth right now using its ability to "scroll" back through the different timed imagery sets that are available. The screenshot below was grabbed from Google earth a few minutes ago [092911]; pretty much the same. 
However imagery has moved on and "Street View" has arrived since the "confirmation". The screen shot below is from Google Earth with the imagery rolled forward to the latest currently available [032611]. Clearly we are looking at the same location but with the significantly clearer imagery the building begins to look a little less like a Futuro. 
The final straw, the "nail in the coffin" as it were for this report is "Street View" in Google Maps; it unequivocally and completely "debunks" this Futuro report. 
View In Google Maps One final note; the reported address was also incorrect. The actual building, which as we have determined is not a Futuro anyway, is at 11404 Southwest 6th Street, Plantation, FL 33325, USA [26°6'46.30"N 80°18'3.36"W]. Return To The Top Of The Page
CONFIRMED | County Road J, Rockland, WI, USA | 090912
Update 110512 A Futuro has been confirmed on County Highway J some four miles or so south of Rockland. See the Rockland Futuro page. Original Information 090912 A few days ago I received the following anonymous comment: "Just discovered one on Co. Hwy J outside of Rockland, WI on 9/1/2012. This is near La Crosse, WI." I have scoured Google Maps, Google Earth and Bing Maps but I am unable to locate a Futuro in this area [of course if one were in storage it may not be visible] so I am unable to confirm or refute the existence of a Futuro in this area. If you have any information on this please let me know and in particular if you are the anonymous poster I would love to get some more information from you. Thanks Return To The Top Of The Page
CONFIRMED/LOST | Indian River Road, Pungo, VA, USA | 111712
Update 111812 A Futuro has been confirmed as being on site in Virginia Beach but it appears it was removed sometime between 051808 and 040610. For more detailed information see the Virginia Beach section on the "Lost Souls" page. Original Information 111712 On 051709 the following anonymous comment was posted on the website Artificial Owl in response to a post about the Futuro House: "There is one of those in Pungo/Virginia Beach VA. Looks almost exactly the same except it was bolted shut." A further report of a Futuro in Virginia Beach then appeared on CNN a couple of years later [040711]. That article, in part, reads: "VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. For years high school aged kids have searched for a rumored alien space craft; only few have found it. Damaged and forgotten, this large brown craft somberly rests with its windows busted in, glass littering the floor, and graffitied by unwanted visitors. Hundreds of cars drive down Indian River road every day, not knowing this circular craft 11 feet high and 26 feet across, lies at the end of a private driveway. The flying saucer stays on private property, locked behind an iron gate with old brick walls, and invisible from the roadside. From the street a no trespassing sign is clearly visible. However, that hasn't stopped some adolescents from finding this retro craft." The article also mentions Richard Pisani, noted Futuro expert, and adds that the Virginia Beach Futuro was unknown to Pisani "until recently". I have spent a little time searching in Google Maps and I have not found a Futuro. Of course it may be obscured or it may be outside the areas I have searched so far or perhaps it does not even exist. Having said that given the source of at least one of the reports, CNN, and the mention of Richard Pisani which, in my opinion, adds credence to the report I have to think that there probably is a Futuro somewhere in the area. I am not so naive as to automatically believe everything even a reputable news outlet would put out but it seems to me exaggeration or embelishment is more likely with stories of more import than this; moreover I think that a major news network publishing something like this without verifying is unlikely. I will continue to search for a Futuro in the area and update this page if and when I find anything. In the meantime if anyone can confirm [or for that matter disprove] a Futuro in the area I would love to hear from you. Thanks. Return To The Top Of The Page
DEBUNKED | Nikolaos Xasteros Futuristic House, Greece | 010513
A few days ago I received an email reporting a Futuro on the coast around Athens, Greece. The email contained a link to the photo below taken by Marios Moros 092009. 
Of course I had never come across any references to a Futuro in Greece so this was exciting - for about 30 seconds! At a first and brief glance the image does show something that appears Futuro like but after the initial excitement it becomes very clear that this is not a Futuro. The information accompanying the photo on Flickr did not indicate where the structure was located so I contacted Marios and he referred me to another photo he had taken the same day. Shown below this image clearly shows something that is not a Futuro. 
Along with the reference to the second photo Marios was kind enough to provide a little additional information including the location the photos were taken [to the south of Athens, Greece] and a reference to the "architecture biennial". Despite the fact that this was not a Futuro the structure piqued my interest and so armed with a location, a name and a reference to a biennial I decided to do just a little research [while trying to avoid my tendency to "fall down a rabbit hole" and spend way more time that I planned on it]. I am a big fan of black and white photography and one of the first things I found was the photo below. It was taken 040510 by Alex Pinball and is displayed here under CC 2.0 
It turns out there are some striking similarities between the Futuro and Nikolaos Xasteros' creation and the blog Errands recounts some of the building's history in a 081909 blog post. In the blog post we learn that the "the dwelling with a shape resembling a flying disc" was made of fiberglass and was patented in 1969 by a company called ALTA [I think this Greek company but I may be wrong] and then later in 1973 by Xasteros himself. Xasteros' rationale was that a prefabricated, lightweight home that could be located almost anywhere would be popular and successful. Clearly in design, intention and timing the home was remarkably similar to Futuro. Xasteros set up a production facility on his own in Komotini City and began working towards the fulfillment of his plans. As with Futuro there was significant interest and in 1978 Xasteros prepared for the opening of his first exhibition. It seems a change in Greek law at just that time that changed laws relating to the placement of prefabricated structures ultimately resulted in the failure of Xasteros' project. Errands reports that at most ten units were produced many of which still stand at various locations around Greece. There seems to be a remarkable similarity with the Futuro story; an innovative design to meet a similar perceived need, a time of interest and indications of a bright future and great success, an ultimate failure because of an external factor that could not be controlled or planned for [for Futuro that was of course the 70's oil crisis] and an eventual small production run with a limited number of units remaining. The second Athens Biennial took place in 2009 and among the exhibits was Xasteros' fiberglass dwelling. The unit was moved from the city of Loutraki for the biennial by the Errands, a group of architects, artists and sociologists. The Xasteros home was displayed as part of the "Heaven Live" exhibition curated by Dimitris Papaioannou & Zafos Xagoraris; a little more information can be found on this webpage [about a third of the way down the page] which also contains the image below left; compare this to the Futuro image at right [from this Futuro Brochure] - now obviously they are not the same but once again there is also a great similarity between the two.  
Yet another similarity between the Futuro and Xasteros' building is the modular construction as illustrated by the two images below. At left is an image courtesy of Errands showing construction of the Xasteros unit at the Athens Biennial and at right is an image of the assembly of Futuro #001 at the WeeGee Exhibition Center in Finland [photo courtesy of Marko Home, the Producer of the WeeGee Futuro Exhibition and editor of the definitive Futuro Book "Futuro"  ].
 
That "rabbit hole" I mentioned; I feel myself falling, if I am not careful I will spend the next two months searching out the locations of remaining examples of Xasteros' dwelling. I may do so in the future so if you have information please let me know but for now there is Futuro stuff to get to so I will end with another photo courtesy of Errands and a couple of links to other photos and information. 
Links | Ough | Errands | Errands | Errands Sources & Reference Return To The Top Of The Page |
DEBUNKED | On I-72 Near Monticello, Illinois, USA | 092911
Update 120411
Return To The Top Of The Page
Having heard more reports recently about this possible Futuro I took another look today wondering if I might have been a little hasty in my judgment. However, my conclusion remains the same - not a Futuro. I pulled some screenshots from Google Maps showing the scale [incorrect for a Futuro] of the two buildings at the location and I also added a couple of streets views which, in my opinion, show clearly that the buildings are both geodesic domes. Let me know if you feel differently or if you have photos or other evidence that suggests one of the two buildings on this site is actually a Futuro. Take a look at the evidence here. 
View In Google Maps 
View In Google Maps Original Information 092911 Included in the comments attached to a January 2010 Springfield State Journal Register article on the Livingston Futuro there were two separate references to a possible Futuro near Monitcello, IL. "There is another one of these with an attached garage on I 72 somewhere around Monticello. Not a bad looking spread." "There is another one near Monticello that has another building attached to it - it sits right next to the highway." Having "driven" I-72 from Decatur to Champaign in Google Earth I do not believe there is a Futuro located near Monticello. What I do think is that the reports refer to the building shown below which is just north of Monticello right on north side of I-72 [40°3'11.20"N 88°34'6.28"W]. It is round, by the highway and has another building attached to it but it "sure ain't no Futuro".
DEBUNKED | 4 Thornicroft Rd , Waitati 9085, New Zealand | 081212
Recently a possible Futuro House was reported to me located at 4 Thornicroft Rd , Waitati 9085, New Zealand. Unfortunately after a quick look in Google Maps and Bing Maps it is clear that this is not a Futuro. The shape, oval rather than round [most clear in the first screenshot from Bing Maps] and the size [shown in the second screenshot from Google Earth] make it pretty clear that this is not a Futuro but if that is not enough evidence for you a look at Google Street View [the third screenshot] should leave no doubt [you might even think it is a Futuro when you first look at the image on this page but double click to look at the image at its original size and there will be no doubt this is not a Futuro]. 
Return To The Top Of The Page
DEBUNKED | Dobson Street, Watson, ACT, Australia | 122912
A friend of mine recently told me he had heard of a possible Futuro House located on Dobson Street, Watson, ACT, Australia. I had not gotten around to checking this out until today. Unfortunately it took only a matter of minutes in Google Earth to determine that this was not a Futuro. Yes there is a circular structure on Dobson Street but it is clearly not a Futuro; the structure looks like it is perhaps concrete and it is also way to big. I also took a look back at historical imagery in Google Earth on the off chance there had been a Futuro there at one time; there certainly was not as far back as I could go in Google Earth [2002]. The images below are from Google Earth and from Bing Maps. 
Return To The Top Of The Page
POSSIBLE/LOST | Tyler Ave, Annapolis, MD, USA | 012713
A recent post in the Yahoo Group "futurohouse" by mikemtd tells us of a possible Futuro House once located in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 70's. In the post mikemtd wonders whether this Futuro House, long gone from Baltimore, might have ended up in Annapolis, MD. There are a couple of mentions of a Futuro House in Annapolis out there; most notably on futuro-house.net and ArchInform. The latter lists one on Tyler Avenue, Annapolis. Scouring through Google Earth historical satellite imagery for various dates has so far not revealed anything that could definitely be identified as a Futuro. There does seem to be one possibility though imagery is grainy and the size may not be quite right for a Futuro. The sequence of images below from Google Earth shows 38º57'27.18"N 76º30'12.59"W [1222 Tyler Ave Annapolis, MD 21403]. They date from [top to bottom] 041989, 040794 and 123101. The 1994 imagery shows an object that could be a Futuro. True the size appears to be slightly too small but the imagery is grainy and the "ruler" tool in Google Earth is somewhat imprecise at best. To me the imagery in no way confirms a Futuro but at the same time I do not believe we can completely discount it as possibly being a Futuro. 
Bottom line for me is that while there are a couple of references to an Annapolis Futuro there is not enough evidence for me to class it as "confirmed and lost" and so for me this is a "rumored" location that may or may not have hosted a Futuro at one time. As always if you have any information, photographs or recollections that could help clarify things and either confirm or disprove a Futuro on Tyler Avenue I would love to hear from you. Sources & Reference
Return To The Top Of The Page
POSSIBLE/LOST | 206 & Mansgrove, Princeton, NJ, USA | 081713
There are a couple of mentions of a Futuro in Princeton, NJ - among them are these two - neither provides any information other than stating that there was once a Futuro in Princeton:
I decided to see if I could find out anything more about this and perhaps confirm a Futuro was once located in Princeton. There was certainly not much to find out there on the web but I did find a page from the website gpswnj.com archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine that provided a little more information including a possible location. The article is titled "House Of Tomorrow" and it includes this location information - Mansgrove Rd & Route 206, Princeton, Mercer County. Most of the text refers not to a Futuro in Princeton but to the author's visit to the Willingboro Futuro but the article is clearly suggesting that there was a Futuro at the stated location in Princeton. The article included two photographs but these have not been preserved in the archived page so there is no way to know if they were of the Futuro reported in Princeton or photos taken during the author's visit to the Willingboro Futuro. A little work with Google Earth and its historical satellite imagery does tend to support the presence of a Futuro at the reported location though none of the imagery available is clear enough to be definitive. Based on the Google Earth imagery I believe it is likely that a Futuro was located in Princeton form some time before 040997 through at least 123101 with the unit being moved from the site sometime between 123101 and 071506 - there is a round object approximately the size of a Futuro that can be seen in Google earth during this period. If anyone can confirm that there was a Futuro in Princeton or has any information or photographs they could share let me know. The images below are screenshots of the location from Google Earth and show:
Sources & Reference Return To The Top Of The Page |
|