ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

LACMA Traces Six Decades of American Domestic Utopias in 'Home of the Future, 1925–1985'

exhibition · 2026-09-27

'Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias' will be on display at LACMA from September 27, 2026, to March 14, 2027. This exhibition, curated by Wendy Kohn and Grace Converse, examines the evolution of American domestic life through advertisements and innovative gadgets. It is divided into four segments: the first (1925–1945) focuses on electrification and visionary designs; the second (1945–1965) highlights mid-century consumerism, featuring works by Eames and Dreyfuss; the third (1950–1970) views homes as nuclear shelters; and the final section (1965–1985) explores counterculture and technology. Additionally, 'The Kitchen and its Discontents' showcases Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's Frankfurt kitchen and Charlotte Perriand's modular kitchen. An illustrated catalogue with 15 thematic essays is available (New York: Del Monico, $80).

Key facts

  • 'Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias' runs Sep 27, 2026 – Mar 14, 2027 at the Resnick Pavilion, LACMA, Los Angeles
  • Curated by Wendy Kohn with associate Grace Converse
  • Divided into four sections: 1925-1945 Health, Efficiency and Mechanization; 1945-1965 Plastics, Push Buttons and Prefabrication; 1950-1970 The Cold War Command Center; 1965-1985 The Counterculture and the Computer
  • Includes a model of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House, an aluminium rotunda that might have been produced at a former bomber plant in Wisconsin
  • Features Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House, Barbie's Dream House and the all-plastic Monsanto House of the Future, which ran ten years at Disneyland
  • Companion pocket show 'The Kitchen and its Discontents' centres on Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's Frankfurt kitchen and Charlotte Perriand's modular kitchen for Le Corbusier's Unité housing blocks
  • Catalogue published by Del Monico, New York, priced $80, with 15 thematic essays
  • Exhibition draws on LACMA's decorative arts holdings, one of the museum's great strengths

Entities

Artists

Institutions

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • LACMA
  • Hamilton & Goody Architects
  • Kohler Co.
  • American Stove Company
  • Ideal Toy Company
  • Interstate Engineering Corporation
  • Asko
  • RCA Whirlpool
  • Monsanto
  • Disneyland
  • Apple
  • Del Monico
  • The Whole Earth Catalogue
  • Popular Mechanics
  • The Times
  • Country Life
  • American Film Institute
  • Smithsonian
  • DelMonico Books
  • Green Dragon Office
  • Western Electric Company
  • Mattel, Inc.
  • RCA
  • Whirlpool
  • Intergalactic Myth-Science Solar Arkestra
  • Wallpaper* magazine
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
  • Kohler
  • American Stove
  • Magic Chef
  • New Frankfurt social housing program
  • l'Unité d'habitation
  • Galerie Magazine
  • Library of Congress
  • Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.
  • Museum Associates/LACMA
  • Wallis Annenberg Photography Department
  • Prints and Drawings Department
  • AT&T
  • NASA
  • MIT Museum
  • Museum of Modern Art
  • University of Colorado Art Museum
  • RULE Gallery
  • Petersen Automotive Museum
  • LOOK Magazine
  • Goody Clancy
  • SCALA/Art Resource
  • Robert S. Lerner Photography, LLC
  • Clark Richert Estate

Locations

  • Los Angeles
  • United States
  • Wisconsin
  • Weimar Germany
  • Marseilles
  • Europe
  • London
  • Asia
  • Soul City
  • Germany
  • France
  • California
  • North Carolina
  • New York
  • New York World's Fair

Sources

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