PREFAB HOMES

A majority of American households have 1 or 2 people, but virtually all houses built are for couples with 3 kids. In Pittsburgh, Module developed an "incremental" small home that can efficiently grow (or shrink) as needs change. With a patented wall and roof system, Module is building homes can be opened up to expand and add stairs and a second story while recycling the same roof and wall.

“While we have, in Pittsburgh, autonomous vehicles driving around the city, we’re still building homes with a hammer and a nail,” explains Module CEO and co-founder Brian Gaudio whose company is building homes in a factory using modern tech like CNC cutting and nailing machines to produce custom-designed, energy-efficient homes for the average consumer.

Inspired by the concept of incremental housing- low-rise high-density developments built in South American cities with the possibility of expansion (Gaudio created the documentary “Within Formal Cities” with Abe Drechsler on the topic), Gaudio moved home to his parents’ home in Pittsburgh tailor the idea to the U.S.

Module’s first home was built for a couple who wanted an in-law unit for their parents’ to move into when necessary. Over the course of just two days, the wall and roof panels (manufactured by Bensonwood in Keene, NH) were erected in a LEGO-like assembly process by crane. Gaudio hopes that this process can be replicated with thousands of homes to actually make a dent in the national housing crisis.

Habitat 67 was a 1960s experiment in dense, downtown housing that tried to combine the best of urban and suburban living. Architect Moshe Safdie wanted to integrate the qualities of a suburban home- the access to nature and views- into a high-rise. Built for the 1967 World's Fair, Habitat 67 was also a prototype of an affordable "3D modular building system" that he hoped would “reinvent the apartment building”.

Like the Japanese Metabolism movement (Nagakin capsule tower), Habitat 67 is an interconnected web of prefabricated cells stacked so the emergent whole feels less coldly geometric and more organic.

“Habitat 67 comprises 354 identical, prefabricated concrete forms arranged in various combinations, reaching up to 12 stories in height. Together these units create 146 residences of varying sizes and configurations, each formed from one to eight linked concrete units. The complex originally contained 158 apartments, but several apartments have since been joined to create larger units, reducing the total number. Each unit is connected to at least one private terrace, which can range from approximately 20 to 90 square metres (225 to 1,000 sq ft) in size.” - Wikipedia

Originally, Safdie had aimed to create an affordable prefab system, but given the experimental nature of the project, costs reached approximately C$140,000 per unit (pricey for the 1960s). Today, the apartment owners all own shares in the building. Long-time resident George Boynton helped instigate changing the status of the complex from government-owned apartment building to a private Limited Partnership Complex. He gave us a tour of the 10-story building and a walk-through of Mosha Safdie’s newly-renovated apartment.

In response to his city’s housing crisis, Simon Becker created a prototype cabin that can be placed on any underutilized plot or rooftop (according to one study, there is space for 55,000 apartments on Berlin’s unused roofs).

On a hill in an olive grove overlooking the sea and the monasteries of Mount Athos, Eva Sopeoglou designed a low-maintenance weekend home that reflects a season's and a day's evolving sunlight.

The project is highly experimental and employs cutting-edge digital CAD/CAM technology in an innovative way. All building components were pre-fabricated, nevertheless, the design itself carefully considered the sun’s position to provide shading and to complement the views. The 3m by 7m rectangular plan is aligned to the cardinal points and it is sub-divided into smaller rooms. A corridor connects these spaces but also aligns with the adjacent olive trees which, thus, become integral to the house’s layout.

The exterior envelope is a lightweight metallic surface which wraps around and it is movable, to provide maximum flexibility, questioning the definition of inside and outside inhabitable space. The envelope’s perforated textile-like pattern is inspired by the shade of the olive trees. As the sun moves during the day the interior spaces are filled with ever-changing shadows.

In 2017, California lawmakers forced cities to relax their regulations on backyard units; Alexis Rivas and Jemuel Joseph were ready with their prefab ADU (accessory dwelling unit) startup and an online tool that allows LA residents to check out just what code would allow them to build in their yards.

Confident that the housing industry has yet to be revolutionized by tech, Rivas and Joseph have taken their combined experience in prefab and computational design to start Cover. The company produces CNC-cut panels that click together like LEGOs to become tiny, and small, cottages. The company is also trying to democratize design using algorithmic software to create $250 plans (ranging from a one-room studio to a 2-bedroom home).

To make a small home more efficient, designer Luigi Colani put a 6-round-meter cylinder in the living room so with a press of a button the kitchen, bath or bedroom will rotate into view ready for use.
Small prefab tests space-era rotating rooms: sleep-cook-bath

Using flexible plumbing and electrical, the home can rotate 270 degrees in each direction to reveal any of the three rooms and still provide electric and water for cooking, lighting and bathing. A simple motor and thin motorcycle chain power the rotating rooms. In case of power failure, the system can be switched to manual mode.

Like all of Colani’s work (born in 1928, he’s worked for major car and airplane companies, as well as NASA), the rotorhome prototype has few straight lines and instead is full of curves and ergonomic shapes. German prefab manufacturers Hanse Haus built the home in 2004 to show the lack of limits in prefab.

More at https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanLuo_ModularHouse/videos

A year after Salt Lake City allowed owners to put tiny homes in their backyards, Colin Jube and Dallin Jolley launched Modal Living, creating prefabricated housing that allows homeowners to erect small shelters and within months.

Modal charges around $120,000 for their basic unit (installation not included), but they say owners are renting them for two to three thousand dollars per month.

They're also being used as in-law units and for kids home from college. Jolley says prefab housing has come a long way since the park model mobile home trend of the '50s and '60s.

When BJ and Danielle Siegel began planning their dream home in the hills of Sonoma County, California, they wanted something light on the land. “Sometimes when people build a house they want to express all the cool things they can get into a house and for us it was kind of the opposite,” explains BJ. “We wanted to do as little as possible and make it a comfortable place to live.”

BJ, an architect who’s also head of store design for Apple, didn’t have time to babysit a build, but he was enamored by the customizable prefab design weeHouse. Created by Geoffrey Warner of St. Paul Minnesota’s Alchemy Architects, the ultra-minimal design is based on a simple box with two walls of sheer windows so the landscape takes center stage.

“I think a lot of people don't necessarily buy into the idea of less is more. I think a lot of people think more is more. And they add features and they add complexity and they add size and it makes them feel like they've actually gotten more and I think it's much more difficult and much harder to actually get there through doing less. That's the fun challenge.”

The Siegels also realized that in the pricey San Francisco Bay Area, modular builds that could be nearly finished in a factory, were a lot cheaper and easier to construct than site-built homes.

In order to create enough space for themselves and their teenage son Jules, the Siegels opted for two boxes placed at an angle from each other (to create privacy). The larger box houses the kitchen (on one wall), open dining room and a box for Jules’ bedroom (with the bathroom and shower tucked behind it). The other box is BJ and Danielle’s bedroom and bath with again a box unit in the middle that houses their closet and separates the space.

“I always feel like really great architecture is like a really great poem. You have to work it work it work it, you reduce it down to the things that only say what they have to say and you get rid of everything else and that's where the sweet spot is for me.”