There's a show on Japanese television called Kansei! Dream House ("It's Finished! Dream House"). On it, architects build dream dwellings for regular folks, who do have to foot the bill. And while most of the houses seem okay, some of them are utterly horrible.
Often, the architects are acting under some sort of constraint. Sometimes, they're working in a small space. Other times, they are trying to appease the residents. And sometimes, they're just awful architects.
The tragic part is that the people who appear on the show are shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to have these houses built. And once the dream homes are finished, they are broadcasted across the entire country.
The internet—the cruel, cruel internet—is quick to point out if it thinks the houses look dumb (note that it doesn't always think they do). Take this abnormally thin dream house:
On 2ch, Japan's largest forum, people began comparing it to a desktop computer. Laughing and pointing ensued.
And then, there was the house that was compared to a barn.
Here's a barn.
Then there was this house that people began comparing to mushrooms—like out of Super Mario Bros.
Then, they began comparing it to a public toilet.
For reference—you know, in case you've never seen a public toilet.
And here is the inside—that is, of the house, not the above toilet.
Up there, the people who live here can eat.
And then, at night, they can sleep up on a platform, too.
Like this.
Or this.
Or maybe this.
The internet is so mean!
The public toilet house is perhaps the most infamous abode from Dream House.
This image even popped up online—it's a Photoshop, but it might sum up the owners' feelings should they ever venture into a Dream House thread.
This spring, Dream House rolled out its latest disaster. This house, which cost nearly US$300,000, is supposed to be modern and stylish. But the resulting home is just...odd.
For starters, it's shaped like the letter "E".
It's also all glass—which isn't so odd, but this house is right on the street. There's no fence!
In the bathroom, you can wave at people in the kitchen. Because. Because. Because. Yeah, that's all I got.
While families often bathe together or in public in Japan, folks do like privacy! Even though there are curtains, this layout puzzled many people online in Japan.
And now that more and more Japanese people are playing Minecraft, folks have been recreating this dream house in the game, saying things like, "I built my dream house in ten minutes—290,000 bucks!"
Then, of course, blow the house up.
And for those who don't play Minecraft, there's always LEGO.
If you have a couple hundred grand to burn and you don't mind internet cruelty, Kansei! Dream House is frequently looking for individuals looking to build their nightmare home. I mean, dream home.
Photos: ニュー速, read2ch, 2ch, 話題, 2log-ch, unkar, Rezonator, 2のまとめ, まんはったん、ニュース2ちゃんねる, Dokiyo, @nagian, @LiLiTeA, @tuti_kure, @nobu_tary
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
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