The Prefabricated Home

From sash windows and ceramic tiles to barracks and warehouses, industrialized building has thrived since the nineteenth century in Europe and America. Yet architects have neglected this area of practical construction in favor of historical, theoretical, and artistic analyses, resulting in the emergence of an influential building industry with architects on the far margins. Colin Davies explores in The Prefabricated Home how the relationship between architecture and industrialized building has now become an urgent issue for architects. The Prefabricated Home outlines the methods and motives of prefabricated buildings and assesses their architectural implications. Davies traces the origins of the branded building phenomenon with examples ranging from the Dymaxion bathroom to IKEA's "Bo Klok" house. He also analyzes the use of industrialized buildings worldwide—including McDonald's drive-through restaurants and contrasts the aesthetic concerns of architects against the economic ones of industrialized building manufacturers. Ultimately, The Prefabricated Home proposes a partnership of architects and industrialized building that could potentially produce an exciting new type of humane and eco-conscious architecture.

Buchanan looks at the world of prefabricated or modular housing and delves into how new advances are being made to create prefab homes for the 21st-century family. Full color.

Prefabricated housing of high design and quality construction has long been an elusive goal for architects, where industry practices, bureaucratic regulations, and cost have always stood in the way— until now. The New York–based firm Resolution: 4 Architecture is revolutionizing prefab housing with their Modern Modular design system. Home designs based on modules of use intended for communal or private spaces are mixed and matched to achieve an infinite number of designs suited to each buyer's site, budget, and lifestyle. Modern Modular, the first book on the critically acclaimed firm, presents fourteen beautifully photographed case studies illustrating each step in their prefab system—from design and fabrication to transportation, siting, and final construction of distinctively modern and surprisingly affordable new homes.

An account of prefabricated architecture around the world, from McDonalds drive-through restaurants to Ikea's flat-pack house.

Publisher description

"This book contains more than 250 floor and elevation plans and construction details for twenty-six prefabricated and cargo-container homes. It includes all the information and guidelines needed to recreate each project plus interior design ideas."--Amazon

A beautiful, user-friendly overview to building more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes using prefabrication. Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid explores the many ways of using prefabrication to build beautiful homes that are not only environmentally friendly, but also incredibly energy efficient. Profiling more than thirty of the most energy-efficient homes in the United States, this user-friendly guide reveals how homebuilders can achieve similar results—whether they want to earn an advanced green certification or just incorporate a few energy-saving measures—with the help of floor plans, detailed resource lists, explanations of the latest technologies, and brilliant photographs. Author Sheri Koones shows that building green doesn’t have to be more expensive, and in fact, can lead to dramatic savings. Koones’s almost-off-the-grid homes, which take energy from the grid when necessary and return any excess energy produced, are healthier, quieter inside, and far cheaper to operate. As energy costs continue to rise, energy independence is becoming increasingly essential, and as this guide shows, the almost-off-the-grid home is a solution that is achievable for everyone. Recipient of the 2013 Robert Bruss Gold Book Award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Praise for Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid “The time has come to throw out the old stereotypes and to embrace prefab building techniques as the way of the future?and the best approach for today. For anyone wanting to create a house that’s sustainable in every sense of the word, this book is an excellent place to start.” —Sarah Susanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House series “You can build a high quality, environmentally friendly and efficient home at a reasonable price with a look and feel of a traditional home. Advancements like those used in our house and the other houses in this book will transform the homebuilding industry.” —Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency “This is an easy-on-the-eyes guide that includes floor plans and multiple images of the exterior and interior of each home. It is not a manual for green construction, but a general overview of aspects of prefab and green construction. And it does that well.” —Natural Life magazine

At the end of the Second World War Winston Churchill promised to manufacture half a million prefabricated bungalows to ease the housing shortage; in the end more than 156,000 temporary 'prefabs' were delivered. Nicknamed 'Palaces for the People', and with convenient kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems, they proved popular and instead of being demolished as intended they were defended by residents who campaigned to keep their family homes and communities. Nearly seventy years later, as the last of these two bedroom homes are being demolished, Elisabeth Blanchet tells the story of these popular dwellings and their gardens and shows the various designs that were produced. Through the stories and memories of residents, she also reveals the communities who were pleased to live in the prefabs.