Her big idea: Turn the average home into a giant dishwasher.
Gabe used her house as the prototype for a technology she hoped to spread across the country.
Cleaning is not easy.
It means putting dirt, ormatter out of place,back where it belongs.
This most difficult work is assigned overwhelmingly to women, then devalued as a subservient role.
While housework technology has made massive strides over the past century, it remains highly un-automated.
The existing innovations involve trade-offs.
The washing machine and dishwasher are less precise and more aggressive than hand-washing.
The Swiffer requires refills and creates trash.
The Roomba has trouble with complex floor-carpet topography.
We make allowances for these machines; we buy dishwasher-safe glassware and easy-to-wipe countertops.
In certain cases, this is an excellent trade-off.
Ovens bake their own grime off; Teflon-treated clothes and cookware wick away unwanted grime.
An example from Dresden:
A self-cleaning public bathroom is Gabes vision brought to life where it matters most.
In this low-fi CGI treatment, comically unrealistic blobs of water pour chaotically over the kitchen furniture.
Every big idea looks ridiculous in its early stages.
In the case of Gabes house, even the basic concepts can seem ludicrous.
It asks you to entirely rethink your priorities.
Would you fill your house only with waterproof items, just to avoid mopping and dusting?
Would you constantly drench all your dishes in water to avoid unloading the dishwasher?
Would you maintain a database of your friends so you could keep in touch?
Would you cover the earth in pavement to move around it faster?
Would you spend your life staring into lights, to make more time for staring into more lights?
The self-cleaning house doesnt exist as a template for the home of the future.
