LACMA Looks Back on the Promises of Tomorrow in “Home of the Future” Exhibition

While the creators of The Jetsons and Disney’s Imagineers may have had bold predictions for what home life would look like in the 20th century and beyond, two exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) look at the fantasy-like designs, technological innovation, and societal changes that promised liberation from daily life for targeted demographics. “Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias” and “The Kitchen and Its Discontents” consider where the ideas came from and for whom they were intended, while also examining the contributions of historically marginalized communities.

“Home of the Future,” curated by Wendy Kaplan, department head and curator of Decorative Arts and Design at LACMA, is organized into four chronological sections and explores the social meaning behind the messaging of the experimental designs. “The American home of the future was always elsewhere, just over the horizon,” says Kaplan. “That restless forward motion, powered by the conviction that tomorrow’s design would solve today’s problems, is itself quintessentially American. The objects, images, and houses brought together in ‘Home of the Future’ remind us that every utopia is a mirror, reflecting our dreams as well as our blind spots, our values, and our willingness to imagine and to exclude in equal measure.”

The first section, “1925–1945: Health, Efficiency, and Mechanization,” considers how the home was reimagined as a machine through introductions including Kohler’s Electric Sink, which promised to eliminate the “thrice-daily drudgery” of washing dishes, and American Stove’s “Mrs. Modern,” which promised that Magic Chef “planned to serve me instead of enslave me.” In “1945–1965: Plastics, Push Buttons, and Prefabrication,” the show goes on to consider how post-World War II military innovations were applied to furniture, textiles, and architecture, such as Ray Eames’s Case Study House #8.

This section also examines access to postwar futures restricted by gender and racial discrimination. The third section, “1950–1970: The Cold War Command Center,” explores a period when domestic life and geopolitics became inextricably linked. It marked a transition within the home as well, from shelter to information hub with emerging technologies. From a design standpoint, Eero Aarnio’s Ball Chair evoked feelings of safety, while Olivier Mourgue’s Djinn chair and ottoman reflected the period of liberation from traditional structure.

The final section, “1965–1985: The Counterculture and The Computer,” explores an era shaped by the rise of personal computers and a departure from traditional materials. Introductions included Frank Gehry’s Bubbles lounge chair and the creation of alternative models for community, such as Floyd McKissick’s multiracial Soul City.

“The Kitchen and Its Discontents” is a standalone exhibition within “Home of the Future,” and debuts the recently acquired examples of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’s 1926–30 kitchen for the New Frankfurt social housing program in Germany and Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier’s 1948–50 kitchen for l’Unité d’habitation in France, placed in dialogue with the messaging about home life from that time period. “‘The Kitchen and Its Discontents’ provides a rare opportunity to see two of the 20th century’s most influential kitchen designs—both by trailblazing women designers—alongside new photography acquisitions, including works by Jona Frank, Mary Frey, and Joanne Leonard,” say exhibition curators Britt Salvenson, curator and head of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department and the Prints and Drawings Department, and Staci Steinberger, curator of Decorative Arts and Design at LACMA. “We’re excited to continue the process of rethinking LACMA’s permanent collection, forging new connections across cultures, periods, and disciplines.”

Exhibition highlights also include Mario Post Wolcott’s photographs and works by artists and activists, including Martha Rosler, Laurie Simmons, and Kelli Connell.

“Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias” and “The Kitchen and Its Discontents” are on view in LACMA’s Resnick Pavilion from September 27–March 14, 2027