The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista by J.G. Ballard:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

"Today's house-hunter has only minor problems: the schools, the taxes, the neighbors, the mortgage. But in a world of psychotropic houses— where the very walls respond to the emotions of those who live (and lived) in them— buying the right house can be a matter of life and death."


('The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista' by JG Ballard)

Another excellent story in the Vermillion Sands collection. A man and his wife hope to be happy in a new home, but its previous owner entangles them in her traumatic life due to the psychotropic features of the house. Select an invention:

Plastex - self-healing material
A combination of plaster and latex, it allows houses to change shape for you.

Psychotropic House
Buildings designed to sense, and mirror, the psychological state of their owners.

Self-Healing Building - building materials
A building that responds to stresses or cracks in walls by healing the damaged portion.

Senso-Cells - read the quirks
Sensors that recorded personal characteristics of the owners of a house, to better serve their needs.

Static House - frozen personality
A house that was once fully psychotropic and malleable, but which had been frozen in one configuration.

 

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