Dysfunctional Floor Plans

The 21st century family is far different from the one of 10 years ago. Just ask any architect. Modern homes are being designed with less open floor plans—more walls, more privacy, leisure rooms at opposite ends of the house. The antisocial architecture is promoted in the name of domestic tranquility.

The seclusion offered by the new floor plans are “good for the dysfunctional family,” according to Gopal Ahluwahlia, the National Association of Home Builders’ director of research.

“We call this the ultimate home for families who don’t want anything to do with one another,” says another executive in the building industry.

Architects have dropped the push for houses with a centralized “great room” and are now plugging one-person “Internet alcoves” and “escape rooms.” The new designs also include multiple main entryways, two-car “his” and two-car “her” garages on opposite ends of the house.

One industrial designer says his 7- and 11-year-old daughters “fight less, because their new house gives them so many ways to avoid each other” (Wall Street Journal, March 26). He says, “It just doesn’t make sense for us to do everything together all the time.”

Isn’t saying goodbye to the “family room” just an indicator that we’re saying goodbye to family?