It wasn’t a benefit Fowler had in mind, and isn’t why people built these to begin with, but it is one reason that they continue to be built today. Their somewhat more rounded shape and compact structure can help allow high winds to pass around them while adjacent rectangular homes get flattened. It can be used to barely conceal a naughty word, like on Jerry Springer. In many ways the censor bleep noise is like a super-swear. They also have one more feature of significant note: octagonal houses are exceptionally good at withstanding hurricanes. The apotheosis of this trend is a recurring sketch on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show called unnecessary censorship, where he replaces perfectly normal sentences with long, obnoxious bleeps.
99 PERCENT INVISIBLE PLUS
On the plus side, they do tend to have more natural light, and more windows and doors that can be opened to allow in breezes for natural heating and cooling (in the right climate). While not as tough to construct as a circular home, they are more difficult to build than rectilinear ones. Of course, there are a lot of downsides to octagonal housing. And Fowler’s own plans for an octo-house were grandiose - a huge mansion with many rooms, not exactly aligned with the cozy, close-knit vision he was selling. With everything closer together, it would, in theory, save people time and energy, too.
In its wake, hundreds of octagon houses started popping up all over the country.įowler argued for the benefits of extra light coming in on all sides, and a kind of geometric aspiration toward the perfection of more rounded shapes.
His book, Octagon House: A Home For All, became a sensation.
Publisher Orson Fowler (most famous for being a phrenologist) used his professional position to self-publish a book about the many benefits, health and otherwise, of living in an octagonal home. 99 Percent Invisible producer emeritus Avery Trufelman traveled from New York to San Francisco recently, and took host Roman Mars to see an unusually shaped old building on the west side of the Bay.Īs it turns out, this peculiar octagonal home isn’t unique - there was a whole architectural fad of building these back in the mid 1800s, tapping into a parallel trend: self-improvement.