Spherical houses weren't a great idea.

[@TomScottGo]

Thanks to Jeroen for letting us film inside his home: and please remember, if you're ever nearby, that these are homes and not a tourist attraction!

[@h0shidont35]

O R B House

[@dolph7529]

O R B House

[@yeetusfetusdeletus]

O R B House

[@IceBot360G]

O R B House

[@agent0422]

ALL PRAISE THE O R B HOUSE! (respectfully and from a distance)

[@Cabbagehater21]

Imagine Tom Scott just randomly showing up at your house and he starts explaining it

[@Doug-89]

That would make for a fun comedy skit. A family living in a unique home who constantly bothered by KZbinrs and documentarians in their yard filming. Tom Scott getting chased out of there with a garden hose.

[@perrypereyra6671]

LMFAOOO

[@vitordelima]

@@Doug-89"Go be a KZbinr somewhere else" - the house owner screamed.

[@morerobotwarscontent1476]

​@@Doug-89go watch unfinished London with Jay Forman. He does the Tom Scott thing but he puts in jokes like that

[@og_rowie_1263]

😂

[@Ciara_Turner]

The architects dream is the engineers nightmare, but once in a while the artists win

[@Voltaic_Fire]

Making them as two half spheres out of liquid materials then joining them together actually seems quite efficient though that is from a modern perspective, it would have been a lot harder in the 1980s, especially from a small temporary factory. I reckon we could do them well and cheap today and I would like to see someone make the attempt.

[@andrewgorrie3215]

​@@Voltaic_Fire at 1:04 he states they were the last houses to get the subsidy in 1984 so the tech won't have been too outdated

[@Byle1990s]

Finally a house made for mums

[@moonliteX]

this scenario became true in helsinki, "kiasma" became 3 times as expensive after they built it. just to fix all the flaws.

[@bertjesklotepino]

my nephew lives in one. Believe me, you do not want to live in one. a waste of space. You have to take into account that the walls are not flat, square. So if you put a couch against the wall, you loose a lot of space. And you aint got much. These ridiculous contraptions thought up by a lunatic are a waste of space. You may not change the exterior much, so drilling more holes to get more ventilation. Forget about it. These are like the LEM on the moon's surface. If they are blasted by the sun, just imagine....

[@hebneh]

Now that I’m older I see that stairs are increasingly problematic. Having to go up and down multiple odd-shaped stairs to go from room to room would be a problem.

[@porkcutlet3920]

Nah, the stairs ensure you're getting a minimal amount of workout. A large majority of the elderly are getting far too little exercise to stay healthy.

[@amoureux6502]

​@@porkcutlet3920odd-shaped stairs present a balance problem, it's very easy for elderly people to fall and rather dangerous when they do

[@soriba391]

@@amoureux6502 cause they don't work out enough (just joking)

[@AnniCarlsson]

Those stairs are all houses in the entire netherlands. It's 1 floor apartments that not have them

[@RaccCity55]

@@porkcutlet3920 I tried the strengthening my legs walking, climbing. Doesn't work with every old person.

[@thenewniccage2283]

One wonders if the sense of neighbourliness that's mentioned is partly fostered by the fact the houses are so weirdly difficult to live in: if you've just moved into a spherical neighbourhood, you probably have a bunch of issues and questions and even in the age of instant online searches, your neighbours are still going to be the only real place you can get answers.

[@no1DdC]

It's as if you suddenly developed a very niche interest that's also dominating your everyday life.

[@disorganizedorg]

Shared adversity fosters friendships.

[@jimcrelm9478]

Almost as if humans evolved to live in small groups all facing the same adversities.

[@bearcubdaycare]

It looked like the kind of walkable space that would foster community.

[@DuckPerc]

@@jimcrelm9478 Sphere houses this street, cube houses the next street, pyramid houses the next street, then repeat. World Peace Achieved1!!

[@guytorie]

It's charming how one would expect the lasting appeal of these homes to be all about their uniqueness, but in truth some of the appeal comes down to very mundane reasons such as "it's near the shops" and "the community is nice."

[@pyerack]

It's the simple things in life.

[@Cavlo]

what is mundane about being near shops and being in a nice community?

[@dutchman7623]

They are so small that only singles and 'recently living together and looking for something else' are living there. You will not find that in a normal neighborhood. So it's a little bit like student housing. You meet and greet in the outdoor area, because they have no balcony nor garden. And yes, they are next to a bus stop, an excellent bicycle route to the center, and all daily shops are just a three minute walk away. They are social housing, sophisticated macro-biotical culture can be found in other projects. No handmade furniture that adapts to the uniqueness of the shape, but second hand Ikea.

[@guytorie]

@@Cavlo I just looked it up, and I remember now that there is more than one definition for "mundane." I meant it as in "commonplace" and not as in "boring." I tend to enjoy mundane things, so I often forget about the negative definition.

[@laerin7931]

@@Cavlo Because being near shops and having a nice community has nothing to do with the design of the home itself.

[@jodofe4879]

This gives a whole new meaning to the term 'housing bubble'.

[@Travlinmo]

Very very true. Now we just need new ones built in Phoenix AZ or Florida during future bubble… but we will not keep them in good condition for decades after a bubble. (I always remember driving past a roof failed into a home in West Phoenix in about 2010 in a community finished in about 2009)

[@troyallen8223]

🤣🥳🥳🥳🥳💥💥💥🎯🤟📢📢📢

[@friedrichjunzt]

Haha 🍾

[@tamas5931]

There's no popping this one

[@kevinevans7507]

😂🎈

[@brendan5260]

I remember my dad talking about this idea as a kid, his biggest confusion was furniture. You’d have to either waste space or buy only curved appliances. Unless you want your kitchen in the middle of the house. Moral of the story: If you couldn’t get people to buy this in the 90s, nobody will.

[@Lotschi]

Well, I‘m just imagining a room where you have the kitchen-furniture from the walls to the middle of the room and then you can walk outside, maybe have a curved table just for three people on the walls. I can imagine it working, if well designed.

[@redwolfexr]

They work okay if they are BIG domes. The small ones not so much...

[@brycefraz]

Yet they’re all lived in

[@lawrencelopez9839]

could work... like make an island type of thing. Still a lot of wasted space though.

[@jeupater1429]

Even if you do find curved appliances and furniture, it all has to be curved at exactly the correct degree for it to actually utilize the space effectively.

[@Madjenta]

Love that you included the local term "bolbewoner". Fun fact: this term is a pun on the word "holbewoner" which is dutch for caveman.

[@aelolul]

Might possibly work in English as "concaveman"

[@DantevanGemert]

​@@aelolulahhhhh that's such a good word!

[@jlammetje]

@@aelolulnice, hahahaha. That certainly captures the Dutch word play!

[@muurrarium9460]

@@aelolul Genius!

[@Madjenta]

@@aelolul lmao that's exactly what I was thinking.

[@LPMSupporter]

My parent's house has a rounded staircase, resulting in the surronding rooms having one rounded wall. I can only image how difficult it is to find fitting furniture with spherical walls

[@SergioEduP]

Nothing off the shelf will fit nicely in those rooms, you would either have to make it yourself or hire someone to make it for you.

[@douglasdanke5779]

Beanbag Chairs mostly.

[@Pointlessusername-zr3jy]

One of the reasons the sphere houses don’t work is that you still have to use furniture designed for squares. If there was furniture for circle rooms it could work

[@jmodified]

@@Pointlessusername-zr3jy For every possible radius?

[@georgelionon9050]

@@Pointlessusername-zr3jy would have to have for standard radius.. and that would work for cylinder shapes only too, this are spheres, on different heights you have different a vertical radius... but beside the furniture issue, what I read this houses also often have weird ways light falls and sound propagates.

[@Voltaic_Fire]

The designers certainly had balls to put them forward as a design. _Edit: I am very pleased with the puns and jokes I've inspired here, complete with pun-ctuation._

[@japie06]

The engineers must have found a few rounding errors, but once it started rolling there was no stopping it

[@woland_]

Considering the drawbacks of living in these houses, the designers didn't quite manage to square the circle.

[@KrefelderBusfahrer]

Get out 😀

[@alex.g7317]

I guess you could say circle, circle, circle, sphere, sphere, sphere, ⭕️ 😉

[@Datamining101]

🤦‍♂

[@elementaryabuse-chan5763]

“What if we made a house that was 75% stairs?”

[@DwightStJohn-w1l]

We have some nice small builds but there's NO bathroom on the kitchen/main level. It's downstairs in the bedrooms. For a senior or even a busy mom with kids, it's weird as there was room for it!!

[@cindykq8086]

Too bad they didn't put a spiral staircase in the center of each home.

[@bonelesswatermelon420]

These are houses from a future. Not THE future, just A future.

[@obsidianjane4413]

A past future.

[@randomviewer3494]

I see what you did there

[@jamesvanlandingham9296]

Retrofuturism.

[@schulhausgarten1371]

@@obsidianjane4413 The tomorrow that never was.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@jamesvanlandingham9296 Its kind of funny (sad) how we see it like that now, but at the time, it was just considered novel and innovative.

[@bluedotdinosaur]

I can understand the common claustrophobia problem. The issue is that the inner walls of the upper floors always lean in - looming over the occupant. The eye follows this up as it constricts further - it's the feeling of falling into a hole and watching the sides cave in on top of yourself.

[@morebirdsandroses]

I almost wish you hadn't described that so well! 🤢

[@lyrimetacurl0]

🤨 I was expecting "the houses tended to roll downhill and into rivers."

[@bluemountain4181]

Maybe they should have put the living room in the bottom half of the sphere so that the walls lean outwards. The bedrooms and bathroom could go at the top since I think the leaning in walls wouldn't be so much of an issue - they might make the bedrooms feel more cosy

[@DistracticusPrime]

The feeling could have been mitigated by overhead storage bins, like on tubular aircraft cabins.

[@minhducnguyen9276]

​@@bluemountain4181Nah they should have gone with the cylinder shape from the beginning. While on paper it should have less inner volume for the same amount of building materials, it has more usable inner volume. And you can now mount a balcony on the outside thanks to the vertical wall.

[@Hazy_Heart]

Thank you camera person for focusing on the cat, your services don't go unnoticed.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

👍👍

[@wandery2k]

sure wasn’t missing meals

[@plicketyplunk]

I second that😺

[@thedolcetto81]

I have to say I loved that.

[@robynmasters870]

@@wandery2k I think it was pregnant.

[@kimmetjuuuh_]

I grew up in this neighborhood and it's so great to see these houses getting international attention. Also, Jeroen is right: It is a great and friendly neighborhood with everything nearby. It was truly a blast to grow up here as a child.

[@SNOOPY_-]

aan media aandacht geen gebrek kim 😆 gemiddeld 2-5x per jaar. en dan heb ik de toeristen niet meegerekend die met bussen tegelijk komen aanwaaie haha

[@chrisuyleman1672]

I used to live in Den Bosch, a few minutes away from these circular homes. I’d always pass by them on my way to school, and always wondered why they were there. Cool to see you covering these houses, and an interesting reason for them being built! Amazing video

[@eriktempelman2097]

Me too 🤜

[@JimmyNL]

I lived in one😂😂

[@LSR303]

Another Dutchie! They also have a cool suspended circular cycling path above a roundabout suspended by wires which one of my docents worked on for the calculations. Edit: That one of in Eindhoven, but still North-Brabant I guess.

[@meowthindegame8127]

fellow boschenaar!

[@Vile_Entity_3545]

Amazing video? I wouldn’t call it amazing.

[@stuartduncan33]

Imagine how hard it is trying to put furniture in a spherical house

[@ralanham76]

I guess you need a bunch of squares

[@DistracticusPrime]

I imagine that's the primary issue, perhaps only second to having four levels and such a large fraction of space spent on stairs. Having briefly visited the 60s and 70s, I remember seeing "natural" soft-side things like bean bag chairs and macrame; maybe the designer assumed these things. "Squares are for squares, man!" One more layer of culture shock.

[@Hans-gb4mv]

try raising a kid, no corner to place them in when they were naughty

[@genghischan69]

​@@Hans-gb4mvrofl

[@genghischan69]

In a society that lives in boxes this is a pain in the ass indeed. As someone who doesn't need much furniture having a few custom pieces of furniture wouldn't be too bad

[@raymondtiemstra5026]

I live in the neighbourhoid of these "bolwoningen". Three friends of mine used to live there. They left because of the fact that they started a relation (or, in one case, became parent) and for two people, these houses are simply too small. Having said that, they all were happy living in their bulbs. Green scenery, and for a relatively small amount of money they lived in detached houses. Which are normally very expensive over here. Plus the community feeling. For a one person household, lots of people wanna live there. Especially musicians, because, well, unattached. So a failed project? Not at all.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

But quite clear why they didn't build more. All that space and money so that just one person can live in one is not very economical.

[@Ailieorz]

I don't think they look that bad at all, they have a specific purpose and that's perfectly fine.

[@thijsteunissen5239]

Groetjes vanuit de maaspoort😂

[@ultimaxkom8728]

@@Ailieorz Facts.

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

Another nice touch for musicians I think is about the noise 😂

[@drCox12]

I always admired the Dutch for their eagerness to experiment with architecture, city planning and organizing traffic. They came up with some very interesting, innovative and well performing solutions. In these regards the Netherlands are a role model. Although there are also some quirky things like spherical houses: If you don't give unconventional ideas a chance then you'll never make progress.

[@Mereologist]

I laud experiments and thinking-outside-the-box but NOT when you make other people pay for it. Public works should be as efficient as possible, not playing around with money that isn't theirs. The latter leans toward tyranny.

[@drCox12]

@@Mereologist Then please stop using the internet. It's the result of people playing around with money that wasn't theirs and it wasn't as efficient as possible.

[@Mereologist]

@@drCox12 Will the money come back if I stop using it? No? So this wasn't a really bright retort, was it?

[@drCox12]

@@MereologistDoesn't matter. The same is true for the houses: If people move out the money won't come back. Your point is void.

[@Mereologist]

@@drCox12 Which is why I never said nobody should be allowed to live in those houses. Please follow along, scooter. I know thinking is hard for you.

[@hatsuharuboi]

Several cultures used to have round houses, but they have a fatal flaw. If you need to expand the house for some reason, it too much of a hassle with round shapes... while with a square house it is simple to build another square besides it and put a door between the two...

[@DragonballZTime]

You could connect one house to another with a round tunnel bridge and then you wouldn't need a door, but it already looks quite tight for expansion.

[@sakabula2357]

​@@DragonballZTimemaybe if you have the space

[@XmrcaptainbobX]

European logic vs african logic.

[@BulkernatorKerb]

@XmrcaptainbobX African logic is having the largest non-natural structure on the continent being a termite mound until colonisation

[@sakabula2357]

@@BulkernatorKerb ever heard of the pyramids

[@darkknight8139]

I have to compliment Tom for his excellent pronunciation of "Men weet niet wat men mist" at 0:25! I am Dutch and have lived in The Netherlands all my life, but I have never seen these "bolwoningen" anywhere... I did not know they existed, while the cube houses shown at 0:57 are famous.

[@TomRoes]

I am from Den Bosch and didn't know these houses exist... Feel ashamed now.

[@WWEMikano]

Oops, I should have scrolled a little further before commenting myself. I said literally the exact same things you did! Interesting how it's such a small country yet there's so much that just goes on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

[@SNOOPY_-]

ja foei! 😅😂😂zijn er best veel hoor die nog nooit van de bolle hebbe gehoord,je bent zeker niet de enige :) zijn vreemd genoeg buitenlanders/toeristen van alle uithoeken van de wereld die de bolle kenne. vraag me soms echt af van,HOE DAN!? van china,tot amerika,van rusland tot nieuw zeeland,het het allemaal al eens voorbij zien komen. hoe vind men zo iets vraag ik me dan af haha@@TomRoes

[@RobMacKendrick]

You been Tom'd, my brother. Welcome aboard.

[@jankisi]

Turns out, he didn't study linguistics for nothing

[@GoingtoHecq]

They are ironically an example of how good gardening and trees make an area very nice. All the other houses around the are bigger for good reason but if only they had such rich space then they would be stellar.

[@tijmen131]

Such a green oasis

[@Gebieter]

But only in summer or warmer climates. In european winter, everything is dead and depressing.

[@tijmen131]

@@Gebieter put a bird feeder up and you can watch all the birds in front of your window

[@pendlera2959]

@@Gebieter That's what evergreens and sculptures are for.

[@youreworthyourweightinavoc7189]

I don't have a round house but i have a semi-cylindrical bedroom and while it's harder to furnish, I still love it. There's something about the softening effect the shape gives to the space that makes it feel cosy

[@gku8744]

Curved walls and ceilings are aesthetically calming. My 3 dome earthship in Denver also uses passive solar and geothermal allowing for natural air movement with minimal added energy costs.

[@defeqel6537]

No reason you couldn't get a square house and round it out if you wanted to waste the space to get softer features

[@Basement_crusader]

Architect: Humans were not meant to live in a box, they shall live in spheres. Humans: I have claustrophobia

[@LordDragox412]

The housing bubble: You shall live in a tiny box, because you can't afford anything more The bubble house: You shall live in a tiny sphere, because why not.

[@jimbob3332]

What is a sphere, but an edgeless safety box?

[@B_Skizzle]

@@jimbob3332A miserable pile of secrets.

[@orsolyafekete7485]

@@B_Skizzle Enough talk, have at you!

[@nothernstar2576]

​@@jimbob3332a fish bowl

[@western9712]

That pronunciation was actually quite well done Tom, groetjes vanuit Nederland ❤

[@daylen577]

Quite sad they let him get away with using Den Bosch, instead of 's Hertogenbosch, because that probably would have gone much worse

[@CasparAbelmann]

@@daylen577 Doesn't even go well off for plenty of native Dutch speakers either to be honest. 😅"Schet hoge bos"

[@TLguitar]

The Dutch guy sounded almost Australian to me.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@TLguitar His English sounded quite South East England, to me. Perhaps he spent time there for a few years picking up the language as he went along.

[@ZZubZZero]

@@Thurgosh_OG It's not quite like the typical accent Dutch people have when speaking English, true.

[@_maxgray]

Loved the feline guest star! And so kind of Jeroen to share the inside of his home with the world.

[@SNOOPY_-]

yw :)

[@ezrakirkpatrick5365]

The neat thing is that spheres have the largest volume to surface area ratio possible of any shape, so I’m not surprised at how warm it is inside.

[@mechwarreir2]

That would imply it would be colder. Q = hA(T-T0) where h is convection coefficient, T-T0 is temperature difference, A is area, and Q is heat. As area goes down, Q goes down.

[@greenorange752]

@@mechwarreir2 You have misunderstood the formula. The Q there would be heat flow out of the object (the house in this case), not the temperature inside the house. So Q denotes the rate of thermal energy lost to the environment. As A goes down, Q goes down, which means it's easier to keep the house at a higher temperature than some other house with a higher surface area.

[@HepCatJack]

@@greenorange752 if the house is underground then it has more insulation around it so it would be easier to keep warm than one above ground that has a smaller surface area. The material it is made of is important too, a sphere made of steel won't be as warm as a well insulated wooden house with foam insulation.

[@kirkjohnson6638]

​@@greenorange752With a smaller surface area to volume ratio, it will transmit less thermal energy from one side to another. That will make it cheaper to heat in winter and cheaper to air condition in the summer. However, the ratio of livable/usable volume to volume of the total sphere is debateable depending on how one defines "livable/usable" and the ratio will vary with the diameter of the sphere since smaller diameters with more curvature per linear length are less usable.

[@ObsceneSuperMatt]

@@HepCatJack You lose heat to the ground, too, and since the earth and/or water are going to be at least 20 times denser, you will lose much faster from conduct. The main advantage is no convection since there wouldn't be wind. However, insulation is so much better that this is quite minor.

[@user-jb5nj2ps8e]

As a dutch person im very happy for the very good pronunciation of the dutch sentence. i have never heard a english speaker speak it this good

[@Naleksuh]

It wasn't really that good

[@patu8010]

​@@NaleksuhIt was the best Dutch I've ever heard

[@arthurvasey]

My Dutch never got much beyond Ik spreek Nederlands!

[@Zuignap]

That sentence was crazy good

[@ZZubZZero]

@@Naleksuh It really was. Helps that there was no "sch" or "oe" or "ui" in it :p But the pronunciation was very good.

[@gabrielf111]

"Humans were not meant to live in a box." *Proceeds to build human hamster wheels*

[@theadmiral4625]

It’s not even a hamster WHEEL; it’s literally a hamster BALL 🤣🤣🤣

[@reaper545454]

lolololol

[@Integratedliving-inspain]

When I use that sentence myself I mean igloos, tippi’s, yurts etc. Round and natural spaces used by indigenous people. And living in that I experienced myself that it is way healthier then living in square spaces. But I would never came up with this concept from the video😅 Feels with this like it’s missing the point.

[@m.m.4609]

Yea, something only the Dutch could pull off . lmao

[@tycobb2580]

fr

[@Apoc2K]

I like that the quiet part of "people weren't meant to live in boxes" was apparently "they're meant to live in spheres".

[@feynstein1004]

I mean, we all do live on a giant sphere so.........close enough, I guess? 😅

[@brumels1570]

Style of words over substance gets people in trouble.

[@arooobine]

​@@brumels1570And sometimes it gets them grant money.

[@geraldwashington6588]

Never understood the argument anyway. Square housing has been the go to for millennia across all cultures, from North Africa to south east Asia and Central America, I think people just like to assume it’s western and wanna be edgy contrarians so they act like “square house bad”

[@MarcillaSmith]

@@geraldwashington6588 But, in some sense, isn't the idea of a spherical house _less_ edgy?

[@burningsinner1132]

Round shapes are much softer to the eye, but are total hell to furnish and they waste incredible amount of space. This way we might actually have a good compromise: a square home with massive half-dome solarium. Good view, perfect location for hoarding all the plants, having guests, meditating, fiddling with your laptop when the rest of the house allows you to efficiently take on boring, but practical tasks.

[@dutchman7623]

I could have rented one, when they were build, but saw a few problems an apartment next to it didn't have. - stepping out the front door you are 'on the street'. No balcony, no garden, no bicycle shed. - in the upper dome (living/kitchen) the area with full standing height is small, floor goes on four feet but you have your head against the dome. It's simply too small. And much inside is just the stairs. - they were in a public park, nosy and curious people walking around day and night. Trees were as thick as my middle finger back than, so no privacy at all. So I rented the apartment with view on these spheres, and never regretted it. Inhabitants slowly claimed a 'little sitting outside area' and some garden around the base. Much later they got a shed after a much needed renovation (leaking windows, mold on the inside, algae on the outside).

[@kaitlyn__L]

That thing about the ceiling coming in on your head on all the edges reminds me of living in places with loft conversions. Half the upstairs room floor space is only good for cupboards or very low shelves, but certainly not for living in.

[@Firstoff-el1kj]

How much do they rent for?

[@dutchman7623]

@@Firstoff-el1kj In 1984 same price as a two room apartment in social housing. But energy costs should be lower. Now they will do about € 500 a month I guess.

[@LutraLovegood]

All problems that could have been foreseen and planned for.

[@br.m]

@@kaitlyn__L That's true. Many box houses have that problem in the upper floor. I had a friend with an apartment like this and I hit my head so many times.

[@davidgillies620]

I've toured the cube houses in Rotterdam. Because they're tilted, the interior floors are hexagonal, and there are no vertical walls. They're visually striking and completely impractical.

[@kyx5631]

I can only imagine the dust that collects itself behind any furniture... It literally has a slide, which it just needs to slide down and gather...

[@ikemeitz5287]

Creating a whole art grant because "you don't know what you're missing" is startlingly wise!

[@mattdombrowski8435]

That is a man who understood the assignment.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

Very dutch actually. A lot of world leading infrastructure in the netherlands has it's roots in that mindset.

[@sdtok527]

And know whe have the best rijtjeshuizen of the whole world. Our rijtjeshuizen are simply the best.

[@MrTomyCJ]

It's taking a risk with other people's money. Even more morally doubtious if it's about art instead of basic needs. It can produce results, but only after diverting resources away from other areas which could also have produced results, so these things have to be done very carefully and with consideration.

[@TheJubess]

​@@baronvonlimbourgh1716but I feel like this kind of thinking is becoming more and more a thing of the past

[@JTD472]

“Even if you measure, it’s no guarantee things fit” I’m going to use this regularly in life now. Thanks, guy

[@DoritoBurrito77]

i think part of the claustrophobia in these is how acutely aware of your confines the rounded walls could make you. if you live in a small, square house like everyone else, its a little easier to trick yourself into believing your space isnt as small as it is. but once you see a rounded wall, you know exactly where the limits of your space are. also, having a rounded wall intrude into your air space where a straight wall wouldnt is definitely a factor

[@roland9367]

It is also a lot harder to put in a big window. Not impossible but very expensive, even more back than. So you just have few of these round windows, they don't give you the amount of light that you need to make it feel spacious.

[@Nempo13]

@@roland9367 If you look at the rooms again...they are tiny. No amount of window or light is going to change how tiny that is. The bedrooms are also in the bottom half of the ball. So there is less floor space but more space by your head, which means less storage and less room to move, that ultimately also hurts a feeling of space. The only shape humans have adjusted well too other than a square box, is a triangle one as we just use the low roofed areas for beds and storage where someone wouldn't need to stand anyway. Pyramids also are easily lived in. Hex domes can work but they are almost always waterproofing nightmares. Smooth domes ARE complete nightmares for waterproofing.

[@roland9367]

@@Nempo13 Yes I'm not denying any of that. I just mean that the small round windows are making it even worse.

[@Canadian_Eh_I]

@@Nempo13 Pyramids sound like an excellent idea! Very stable structure and easily lit with one overhead light. Storage around in the inside perimeter and instead of siding; shingles.

[@floridaman6982]

@@Canadian_Eh_I pyramids are also small on the inside, tent-like beach house are nice thou, A frame two flat walls

[@Rob-ui3ju]

Never thought I'd see my home in the background of a Tom Scott video. Great video as always and cheers from Den Bosch!

[@filmpjesman1]

Mooiste stad op aarde!

[@Mikania-vt5rq]

Same. Empel Represented in background

[@dawidp4227]

I live near one of the two spherical houses in Poland. The city officials had a problem with calculating the area of a circle for tax purposes.

[@scifisyko]

But… but there’s a formula…

[@Nempo13]

@@scifisyko Yes but the formulae assumes an empty floor. Stair locations are not taxable in many places as you do not live in a stairwell and cannot make proper use of that area.

[@hollis216]

Has to depend where they want to take the measurements. I don't imagine there was any problem if they were using the tiny footprint to calculate area.

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

​@@Nempo13subtract the area of the stairwell from the area of the circle.

[@communisticus191]

@@Nempo13 That isn't that hard to account for, though I find that kinda strange because its not like you can live in most of the spaces of a house exclusively, and where I live "cant make proper use of the area" is generally half the area of the house due to extensive flooding during snow melt and summer rain. Well, that is assuming your goal isn't to collect every disease like they're Pokemon.

[@amyhineline916]

We toured those cube houses in Rotterdam. Tiny rooms, had to constantly climb stairs to get to the next room, and all those crazy roof angles gave me vertigo when I stepped out onto the tiny balcony.

[@reinout1489]

I live about a 3-5 minute bike ride from them and always found them interesting, I'm stoked that you visited and really surprised to see such stunning shots of my neighbourhood!

[@Tsnafu]

I love that the Dutch give travelling times in bike ride/minutes - 90% of the world would have described that as "a 10-15 minute walk" 😁

[@Elonquin]

I live about the same distance from these. The drone shots were, indeed, amazing to see.

[@delayedcreator4783]

@@Tsnafuand some use actual "distance" to convey distance .

[@Tsnafu]

@@delayedcreator4783 sometimes time/method is a lot more accurate than exact distance. A mile on a city street is not the same as a mile up a mountain or across an estuary

[@delayedcreator4783]

@@Tsnafu stuck in traffic and the time method becomes unusable.

[@willemveraqiuemontepoo9269]

I've always really loved the architectural mindset of "people are not meant to live in boxes", but it's really funny to me that that Kreijkamp decided to replace the cube with another perfect geometrical shape and also gives a nice amount of nuance to the statement, from these houses I learned: "humans are not meant to live in geometrical shaped houses", which explains why Gaudi's buildings are so adored.

[@Xaltotun]

maybe I'm weird but I love straight walls.

[@ian-flanagan]

When space is a limitation (city life), is there any design that maintains an internal temperature, and couldn’t be described as a box (Even ignore financial limits)? I suspect we were meant to live in boxes 😂

[@NikoMoraKamu]

Gaudi Arquitechute had a lot of geometrical components on them ,things like tesselated surfaces on walls and floors ,the arches and curves are sections of diferent kind of volumes , it's more organic with less straight lines but still with high components of geometry in the shape and in the placement of the elements like the simetry

[@ian-flanagan]

@@NikoMoraKamu I think I’m interpreting “box” as an engineer which (ironically?) is a more abstract definition: an arrangement of 2D planes (walls) to fully enclose a 3D space. A box with curvy walls is still a box.

[@hiroprotagonitis]

Boxes were inadequate thus he decided egg

[@Glouryian]

In Dresden once stood the so-called "Kugelhaus" (spherical house). It was built 1928 and designed by Peter Birkenholz. It had five stories including space for exhibitions and a restaurant. Unfortunately the nazis deemed the building "non-german" and it was demolished in 1938.

[@Caddoan]

Shame really, but then i noticed you said Dresden... there wouldnt have been much left in a couple of years anyway

[@FischerNilsA]

Nazis had no balls?

[@geradamasabraxas6493]

Might be for the best that there be one fewer spherical building in this world though

[@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer]

Didn't know the nazis did anything good

[@Glouryian]

Well... true. That area in particular has been completely obliterated. @@Caddoan

[@Litepaw]

Imagine having the whole downstairs of the sphere as a massive bed

[@westzed23]

With experimental architecture for homes, schools, and churches in my area, they all seem to have problems with roofs and windows. A school that was built by an inovative architect had to have the roof replaced with a more standard flat roof. This was after a couple of decades of patching the problems. The architect was very upset, but a school needs to be functional without costing so much money from institution funds.

[@jacquestube]

That's because the old ways of the good ways, experimentation is nice but there's a reason why over the course of Ten Thousand Years the same designs keep popping up in every culture

[@pazza4555]

This is true for museums, government buildings, concert halls and most anything else experimental. Frank Lloyd Wright's homes have problems. Frank Gehry's buildings have practical problems too, like a building in Los Angeles that reflected the sun into a neighboring building, making that building awful to be in.

[@KingKool2099]

Tom: Check out these spherical houses, an incredibly architectural experiment. Me: Kitty!

[@elisam.r.9960]

For all we know there are outtakes from this video where Tom is also going, "Cat. Cat. Must film the cat."

[@DavidCowie2022]

Timestamp?

[@kibrika]

@@DavidCowie2022 1:39

[@tobias3648]

And 3:47 😺

[@orsolyafekete7485]

Me: that cat is almost as round as the houses

[@safaiaryu12]

I knew someone who lives in a similar house in Central Texas, USA. They called it a bubble house, it was more half-spheres than full spheres. Multiple half-spheres connected for more room; they called it the Bubble House, which was very apt. I think it was concrete poured over frames, rather than manufactured (the family supposedly designed it), and the insulation was good, I definitely visited it during a Texas summer and didn't notice anything wrong. In fact, it felt very cave-like and cool, if I remember correctly. The parents were very artsy and unique; they also drove a horrendous bright gold PT Cruiser because they said they never lost it in a parking lot!

[@FJ-rh6io]

love how honest and yet content and positive this resident is.

[@SNOOPY_-]

beats being homeless =)

[@Robot3_14]

You pronounced "men weet niet wat men mist" like a pro!

[@gus2603]

"Humans were not meant to live in a box" Builds a smaller inefficient spherical box.

[@TheToneBender]

Tom's visited the Netherlands a few times now and each time when he says some Dutch proverb his Dutch seems to have improved :-P This time it sounded very good.

[@MrJjjakey]

Really would have liked to see more footage of the inside of these

[@NovaTheSinger]

Same but I’m thinking it was more of privacy or it really was just like that.

[@TheMonsterbed75]

the inside was not how i expected, reminds me of a science museum exhibit I used to visit as a kid! such tight quarters

[@arc1279]

Jeroen is a fine gentleman for letting you film in his house

[@SNOOPY_-]

yw

[@guilesmart7486]

Hi Tom, in Curitiba - Brazil there's a rotating building. Ten floors. Each floor rotates individually. But the building was never inhabited. It's an interesting story worth exploring

[@stardustandstripes]

Como chama esse prédio?

[@guilesmart7486]

@@stardustandstripes Edifício Suíte Vollard

[@jacobgarland3257]

What an fascinating folly. I would be interested to see a video on said tower.

[@Boris-Vasiliev]

How does plumbing work with this design? I cant imagine pressurised pipes or sewage collector rotating with the floors.

[@guilesmart7486]

@@Boris-Vasiliev Kitchen and bathrooms are fixed in the center. All the other rooms do rotate. There are some videos on YT about the building. Search 'Suite Vollard'

[@Davett53]

In the mid 1960s America was enjoying a Geodesic Dome house craze. Almost all them were built on private property out in the country. People built them, themselves, from kits or from instructions. Inspired by the designer Buckminster Fuller, who invented them. The American counter culture embraced them,....so called Hippies, often were involved. I have a friend who built his in 1970. They were a real challenge since most houses are built in squares and rectangles, with right angles. They are fun but there is a lot of wasted space, and conventional things like windows and furnishings have to be adjusted to fit within the interior. I was in college at the time, and anyone taking art & architecture at the time collaborated in building them, most for fun spaces to meditate within. Some became greenhouses, & other uses. Residential zoning prevented them from being built in conventional neighborhoods. They were perfect in rural settings, or out on private lands in the country.

[@Cyraxior]

"Enjoying" is a generous term. More like the buyers sobered up and thought: "That was a bad trip." Meanwhile, those single-story ranch-style homes built in the Depression Era are worth their weight in gold nowadays.

[@Davett53]

@@Cyraxior Good point. In the very beginning, before the reality of dome home life was fully understood, it was exciting to live in, and own a dome. After a year or two, the reality of a dome home, became less appealing. Since everything had to be custom fitted, raising the cost of everything.

[@Cyraxior]

My question is: do you put the kitty litter box on the ground floor, or somewhere in the sphere?

[@suemiller9506]

I lived in a yurt for 8 years - it was fun but it also had wasted space since furniture is rectangular (unless custom built) and had to be away from the walls. Still, living in the round was lovely for a time. Now I have a rectangular log cabin and it's also lovely and everything fits.

[@FayeVert]

They're also rather difficult to heat, from my understanding.

[@yorktown99]

I seem to recall reading that non-rectangular buildings pose a big problem that the original architects never consider: all of the furniture, appliances, or belongings humans use indoors are also rectangular. I mean, you can do it, but you have to redesign not just the walls, but literally everything else that you bring in there too.

[@krashd]

No, all the furniture is just built in with the exception of appliances. No different to living on a houseboat or in an RV.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

@@krashd you can see in this very video that is not the case. There's lots of unused space existing awkwardly between the regular furniture. (2:20)

[@woutermoerman2000]

As someone who lives in this particular city, I'm so happy to see someone cover the interesting parts of it. Thanks Tom!

[@Arcterion]

Agreed. I would've loved if he covered the Moriaan (current VVV office next to the market) as well, as it's the oldest brick building in the Netherlands, going back as far as the 13th century.

[@akaRicoSanchez]

In a strange way, the quirks of such houses are so unique that there must be a sense of community amongst the people who live in them.

[@vinecat8451]

I freaking love seeing a video about these houses. I actually live just down the street and tried applying to love in one of them myself!

[@nealkonneker6084]

An architectural professor told his students to "go ahead and design a round building and get it out of your system". They seem like good ideas in theory but in the real world they don't usually work out.

[@alexseguin5245]

They don't even seem like good ideas in theory lol. Aside from looking cool, I can't see a single advantage.

[@zyeborm]

Oh it's easy, all you need to do is make it about 3x the size of the same building in square form and you're set ;-) Then you can build little square rooms inside it.

[@nealkonneker6084]

@@alexseguin5245 A sphere encloses the most volume for least amount of surface. Curved walls/roofs are also much stronger than flat. I actually still like the idea. Checkout a company called monolithicdomes. Still a niche market so they may still be impractical. zyeborm in comment below has a point.

[@gavinlew8273]

It works...on Mars

[@NigelTolley]

Having lived in houses without walls and floors that are very square, I can only imagine how hard finding effective furniture is for these houses!

[@unvergebeneid]

Would've been interesting to see more inside views. I'd love to see how people use furniture meant for right angles in these!

[@lokon1979]

As I can see from the video, fitting curtains on not only a circular window, but curved walls would be challenging! You could see he have circular shades, but doesn’t look as convenient as normal curtains and it seems to be very difficult to have it “half opened”, even probably impossible

[@unvergebeneid]

@@lokon1979 yes, I noticed these. Seemed very improvised though, not part of a solution someone came up with while planning that house.

[@miket2120]

Maybe the cameraman got claustrophobic ? From the limited photos of the interiors, you're looking at take apart sectionals (think IKEA in a box) and smaller chairs. The seating is around the circumference, leaving the center area for cabinetry and staircase - roughly 1/3 of the total floor area. They're a great example of form over function and the daft notion that we were meant to live in spheres (thought the designer, Dries Kreijkamp, had his design studio in that oh so unnatural rectangular box thing called an office.

[@SNOOPY_-]

i think the limited inside view has been a privicy choice. thats my best bet@@unvergebeneid

[@iviaverick52]

I love how Tom's videos are so short and to the point. Lays out an interesting topic in only 4 or 5 minutes. No huge 30 minute long mini-documentary.

[@Olectralab]

Thankyou for blessing the internet with this interesting house design :).

[@SNOOPY_-]

yw :)

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Fascinating, as ever. I don't think I've ever seen a Tom Scott video about unusual things that didn't catch my attention for the entire time. This time there were two elements in particular that I loved. The novelty of the homes (I'm all for experimental designs) and the Dutch he spoke. I'm learning the language and was able to understand what he said! That's a big step forward for me!

[@PhotonBeast]

That's a great step! Especially since I've found listening to be the hardest; my reading is best, followed by speaking.

[@Patrick-Phelan]

Tom always demonstrates an excellent mix of curiosity and compassion.

[@Zelmel]

I'm a little surprised they did full-on spheres instead of geodesic domes. I've definitely seen a handful of geodesic homes here in the US that are still being used.

[@miket2120]

I'd say it's a matter of designer pride on the part of Dries Kreijkamp. If he used a geodesic dome structure, people would think he was copying Buckminster Fuller, who popularized the geodesic dome beginning in 1948, a full 36 yrs before Kreijkamp. Fuller devised the term geodesic and popularized the dome in the US in the 1950s, tho' the actual structure design was made in the 1920's by Walther Bauersfeld for Ziess optics for a planetarium, 26 years prior to Bucky). So, to be different, Kreijkamp two molded concrete and fiberglas spheres and he called them his own design. Spheres and domes are great for housing planetariums and radar antennae, but are a rotten use of space for living areas.

[@hackerx7329]

Geodesic domes aren't just still being used, new ones are still built. They are super well suited for surviving storms if you use concrete panels making them not only able to survive extremely high winds such as from a tornado or hurricane and to a point even a lot of the debris thrown by those winds. Construction cost wise the outside shell is cheaper and faster to construct than a lot of other types of homes. The only extra cost compared to a more typical home is finding a floor plan you like or hiring somebody to make one and whatever cost there is with making sure that new floor plan is cleared for local building codes. Interion construction costs may be *slightly* higher than a more traditional home for the same materials because of the extra work meeting up with the exterior walls that aren't squared off but not immensely more expensive and things like plumbing, electrical, central air, and communications are no different than any other home except that depending on how close you are to the nearest cell tower you may need a repeater inside the home connected to an external antenna due to the concrete and steel acting as shielding.

[@theKobus]

Come home to a dome!

[@zyeborm]

@@hackerx7329 I like the domes, but I'd wager precast concrete tilt up/offsite pre-fab would do the same job and be cheaper overall,

[@Metal_junk]

It actually looks better on the inside than I expected.

[@Reaperman4711]

Space on the ground floor is uniquely valuable compared to upper floors, but these sit on tiny stands like gumball machines. They went through a lot of design effort just to steal that ordinarily free space from the residents for style points.

[@pallemaniac]

Put a euro in the slot, turn the knob, then a 100kg gumball tumble down the stairs. 😅

[@mitchellhorton9382]

If these were cylinders they probably wouldn't be too bad

[@klutterkicker]

I love how well they're merged into the landscape around them, though that seems to be partly because they can grow trees under the sphere section and partly because they're not as efficiently packed as most houses.

[@ouwebrood497]

Like some giant mushrooms.

[@Langharig_Tuig]

I was actually shocked by how well your Dutch pronunciation was! I was ready for the typical butchering and Germanizing of our language, but you actually spoke Dutch! Well done.

[@stefevr]

and your English is quite good! Well done

[@theKobus]

I'm conversely surprised at how totally natural the Dutchman's "comfy" was

[@EuphoricMoments682]

Only germans have the license to butcher your language!

[@natjam0205]

I'm surprised your English is so coherent

[@Squidveemo]

@@natjam0205 Dutch people are some of the best non-native speakers of the English language. I'm Dutch and when I'm with my friends I basically only converse in English.

[@ThomasFox56]

That quote at 0:26 was actually really well pronounced! Also, gotta love Tom visiting my hometown! Especially since my name is also Tom.... I will miss these video's so bad, but I'm looking forward to Tom Scott's new projects!

[@Senteri]

The moment I saw the opening shot with normal houses I was like: This must be filmed in the netherlands. The houses behind Tom are very typical 80s houses. Not sure if typical Dutch, but I don't recall seeing them elsewhere.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

Dutch neighbourhoods and building style are very recognisable. Won't find it anywhere else really.

[@MisterDutch93]

Yup, very recognisable 80s "Woonerf" design. I haven't seen it anywhere but in the Netherlands. It's funny, but when you end up somewhere in a woonerf, you could literally be anywhere in the Netherlands since they all look the same. From Friesland to Zeeland to Limburg, you'll always find a neighborhood like that in town.

[@georgelionon9050]

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 really tough? The typical dutch "Hanse" style is found all around the northern sea.

[@Josh_2976]

I totally get that. in the UK it's similar. I can sometimes even pick out slight differences from houses from England vs the ones here in Scotland.

[@muurrarium9460]

Try Ibiza or Formentera, I remember seeing them there as a child.

[@peteranon8455]

I love the concept of building these to see if we were, in fact, simply all missing out.

[@iHaveOneOfEach]

It's close to living a round house like a windmill

[@beringstraitrailway]

​@@iHaveOneOfEach I'm sure he means arranging furniture

[@serafinmagic1634]

This shape would be great in tornado alley, or hurricane zones. Round structures can withstand crazy high winds.

[@lolollolol5654]

can also roll haha

[@jeffbenton6183]

Domes might be better. EDIT: although then flooding might be a problem

[@Mereologist]

Cost is usually a final determinant. They could also build the entire home in the 'hurricane shelter', but that involves a lot of expensive digging. Far cheaper to just slap up some planks and replace them every couple decades when they are blown away. They'll probably need replacement by then anyway.

[@jeffbenton6183]

@@Mereologist Provided that a decent basement is available, of course. (but those are standard in tornado alley, last I checked)

[@StumpfForFreedom]

​@@Mereologistwith the price of lumber nowadays, I wonder if a dugout design might make sense.

[@johngraves6878]

Fantastic! i wanted to see more of the floor plans of these bubble homes. I would love to live in one of these for a week just to see how it is.

[@SNOOPY_-]

floorplans are available on google imagines

[@mattyman1241]

The "men weet niet wat men mist" might be the best dutch ive ever heard from someone who doesnt actually speak dutch. Love how much effort goes into every aspect of your videos. Much respect

[@gerrieberriee]

Seeing as I regularly drive or bike by these houses to visit friends that live nearby it's so weird seeing Tom Scott walking through these neighbourhoods

[@plasmabol]

Jeroen seems like a nice guy. You explained very well man!

[@SNOOPY_-]

i can be nice sometimes :) ~ jeroen

[@nicktaylor5264]

@@SNOOPY_- What is that accent? Sorry for asking - I'm interested in accents :)

[@SpydrXIII]

round houses are a great idea for hurricane areas. they just need to be designed and built by an architect. also if you make them bigger and make the inside square furnishings will fit.

[@IamFD]

That house is a paramedic’s nightmare. Those stairs… and it looks like you can’t use the windows either to get somebody out.

[@Jacob-W-5570]

The stairs are the only normal part of those houses, I say as a Dutch person, I think 95% of the stairs in our houses are of that design.

[@Nitroburner01]

We have this thing called doors to get someone out

[@Khronogi]

Strap em to the wall and roll it.

[@mrjones2721]

@@Nitroburner01Not in a fire.

[@georgelionon9050]

Just roll the whole house to the hospital. Paramedics dream house.

[@uitvindertje]

0:25 As a dutch, I can say that you pronounced that very well.

[@lordsleepyhead]

There's still a surprising amount of mid-century experimental architecture in the Netherlands. Once you start reading up on it, you find that nearly every town or village has at least one experimental building in it.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I imagine that must be fun for local identities. Like, "I'm from the town with the concrete cylinder buildings! You?"

[@tijmen131]

Wow you are right. Apperently in my area they build triangular houses that could be stacked on top of each other. It was a graduation project from some young architect. There is a website were you can see all the experimental houses in The Netherlands from that time.

[@homomilitia]

would you mind sharing the site? im having trouble finding it on my own :( @@tijmen131

[@flo9]

Oh yes - Rhijnvis Feithlaan 2 in Bussum. De Blokkendoos (blocks set box) is located in the middle of a posh 1920s villa neighbourhood. It was recently renovated but for decades it was just an ugly square yellow box.

[@egregius9314]

@@tijmen131 Ah that must be experimentelewoningbouw dot en el. Noice. Schiedam has these weird pyramid-shaped houses, but they were built in the 90s. So just for the architectural lulz I guess.

[@ElianSchreuder]

i live in the netherlands myself and i have genuinely never heard of these spherical houses. Cool video!

[@Dave_Sisson]

One of Australia's most successful alpine huts is a spherical geodesic dome built in 1965. MUMC Hut is situated on Mount Feathertop with all the material carried in by volunteers. For nearly 60 years it has stood up to strong winds and blizzards and the fact that these buildings heat up is a good thing in cold environments.

[@ValueNetwork]

It’s wild how the architect said “We designed a spherical house to counter claustrophobia” but then the shots inside the house are extremely cramped, narrow and would probably make me claustrophobic

[@overlordb1989]

As an engineering student, those “houses” disturb the f### out of me 💀

[@Squant]

That wasn't the architect, that was one of the occupants and he was saying people feel claustrophobic in the spherical houses, so they're not for everyone.

[@MondyTS]

He never said that tho

[@kutter_ttl6786]

​@MondyTS 1:23 he said he's never personally experienced claustrophobia, but he has heard other people experiencing it.

[@KoyasuNoBara]

Are you interpreting the claustrophobia thing from the architect saying "human weren't meant to live in a box"?

[@ruthpol]

Your videos are so grounded and insightful, so amazing to see that there are KZbin creators that still choose their topics so carefully and well.

[@gerrelldrawhorn8975]

I lived in Davis California and there was a student housing project built on a half sphere concept called the Domes. It was quite inexpensive to build associated with student managed gardens, acomon kitchen area, and set up as a co-op housing model with shared meals by members. Built in 1969 it's been entirely paid off with the profits going to the Improvements and maintenance. There has been very few issues after 55 years...although the University considers that the low cost of $200/month is disparate with the $1000+ they charge for other dorms. People built custom furniture, shelving, desks, beds etc. They added decks, swings, It's still.massively popular. You should check it out for an alternative viewpoint. And of course people have lived in domelike structures for tens of thousands of years.

[@KCML82]

I'm dutch, born in Helmond so I knew about the cube houses, never knew these spherical houses existed. I'd love to see more of a housetour.

[@HeisenbergFam]

Imagine living in a house that looks like its from Spongebob, what a vibe

[@joshuagibson2520]

Jaaaaysus Christ. Put down the KZbin. Go outside.

[@kurisu313]

More like a Dragonball capsule house

[@tikitere]

Are you omnipresent

[@lightningvolt3150]

heisenburger

[@cartolla]

Feel like a pokemon inside a pokeball :D

[@VosperCDN]

I remember seeing older Popular Mechanics that had geodesic housing, quite similar, and always thought it would be a very cool (fun) place to call home.

[@EGRJ]

I wondered about those steel buildings that are just half a tube. Like these spherical homes, or circular ones I've seen, I wondered about finding appropriate furniture. Then again, the arch buildings seem to be heavily advertised as garages and sheds.

[@WyvernYT]

@@EGRJ Do you mean a Quonset hut and similar? They are semi-circular when viewed from the end but rectangular in footprint. (Crazy numbers of these got made for WWII.) It's a good shape for something that gets made in one place then shipped out to be assembled on site, possibly by unskilled labor. There are a lot of plastic greenhouses made in that shape, too.

[@EGRJ]

@@WyvernYT Yep, those. I remember seeing those advertised in Popular Mechanics in the 90s .

[@buboniccraig896]

They needed to build a lot of cheap houses and they chose the MOST DIFFICULT SHAPE TO CONSTRUCT??

[@ZZubZZero]

The instant I saw the opening shot I KNEW it was the Netherlands haha. Damn, so recognizable even by just a few houses, some trees and a little bridge.

[@Haggisking]

Likewise, I can't put my finger on exactly how I knew, but having spent a lot of childhood in the Netherlands (Dutch mother), there's just something so recognisable about it.

[@Feargal-nn7nd]

I thought it was Scandinavia.. because the houses are the shape of Norway. The trees the shape of Sweden. And across the pond even the bulge of Finland.

[@boebrow]

Respect to Tom for pronouncing that Dutch sentence, and also respect to Jeroen for his awesome English. Makes me think he might’ve lived in the UK for a while.

[@petertaylor4980]

I went on a school exchange to the Netherlands when I was ten. Our Dutch exchange partners spoke about as good English as we native speakers.

[@coryman125]

I believe the Dutch are the most fluent English speakers in Europe. And from my time visiting the UK, I'd be tempted to say the Brits are included in that

[@SNOOPY_-]

in the world actually for a country which is NON-native english speaking@@coryman125

[@0106johnny]

​@@petertaylor4980By far most of us do have a heavy Dutch accent though

[@eric.is.online]

@@coryman125 🤣

[@tayzonday]

This looks like my kind of house

[@realSethMeyers]

Oh my

[@Ghoosteny]

Chocolate spherical house

[@SeanWithaFada]

chooooclate raaaaiiiin

[@berbudy]

Same, looks comfy

[@ralanham76]

Like the womb ?

[@sethglazier2877]

“Humans weren’t meant to live in a box” “Interesting, what are they meant to live in?” “A ball”

[@MinerBat]

something like that might actually work for a space settlement, because spheres are very good at keeping pressure inside

[@LotsOfS]

As someone from the North who's always heard about these Bossche Bollen but never seen any, I never guessed they'd be houses

[@Katherine-em4fl]

are you talking about the chocolate dessert maybe😂

[@ivenusflytrap]

Bossche bollen are delicious, I wouldn’t live in them

[@miera1029]

... Ik ben ook Fries maar je snapt dat Bossche bollen geen huizen zijn toch? ;)

[@SilentDecode]

That's actually quite awesome! Never knew they were there. Oh and Tom, your Dutch was surprisingly good! I could understand that very well. Nice job!

[@MichaelSteeves]

A degree in linguistics helps with that.

[@Tylendal242]

"But there are definitely some problems." *Enter: Obese cat.*