The JF-Kit House, by Spanish-based Elii Architecture, is an off-grid home concept which envisions occupants using exercise to offset their energy needs. To its credit, Elii Architecture makes it clear right off the bat that the JF-Kit House isn’t intended to be considered as suitable for human habitation yet. Rather, the architects did some brainstorming and imagined how our homes may evolve in a future of rapidly decreasing fossil-fuel resources. This was then used this as a jumping-off point to let imaginations run wild.
Inspired by, but not affiliated with, fitness guru Jane Fonda, the structure features a hand-cranked email station and energy-producing dance floor. The JF-Kit House is a modular “parasitic” structure that can be affixed onto existing walls and rooftops. There are definite advantages to this idea, and presumably the wooden frame could be provided by renewable sources, while the plastic covering may trap heat while also letting in natural light. But such practicalities are beyond the scope of the project at present, and Elii Architects doesn't dwell on the finer details.
Instead, the firm focuses on the central theme of “domestic fitness furniture,” which include a hand-crank kitchen, an email station also operated by hand, a dance floor which produces energy when used, and a greenhouse watered by performing squats (come again? – Ed).
How exactly each piece of domestic fitness furniture works also isn’t expanded upon, but the JF-Kit House would quite literally require its occupants to work for their breakfast, and anything else required besides. No pain, no gain indeed. The design also calls for an energy mortgage to help finance the cost of the home.
The JF-Kit House isn’t going to become a feature of your local skyline any time soon, but in its stated goal of provoking thought on the future of sustainable homes, and how our own bodies could be used to offset energy needs, is at least food for thought.
Sources: Elii Architecture, Miguel De Guzmán via Inhabitat
