Should somebody ever think of making a Dutch version of Star Wars, the ’s-Hertogenbosch neighbourhood of Maasport would be an ideal backdrop. Fifty white 'spaceships' shaped like giant golf balls landed here at the beginning of the 1980s and have since served as housing for the ordinary humans of this city. Three decades ago, the municipality of ’s-Hertogenbosch received a large subsidy from the national government for the purpose of experimental living, so architect Dries Kreijkamp designed these futuristic globes. The idea behind these unusual cement and fibreglass buildings sprang not from the architect’s leap of madness, but in the 'optimal experience of nature in all its facets', or so Mr. Kreijkamp claims. Supposedly residents feel much closer to nature, because it can be seen from all directions within each globe. The unusual shape of the buildings is accented all the more because they are located next to ‘normal’ houses. Each one offers bedrooms on the ground floor, sanitation in the middle and living rooms on the top floor, which have the best views. As the houses are rather small by Dutch standards, having a diameter of only 5.5 metres, most globe houses are inhabited by just one or two people. In past years there have been frequent rumours that the buildings contained too many construction flaws, but after a thorough renovation the science fiction globes seem prepared for the future.