Joel Turkel on the Future of Prefab
The future of prefab is an increasingly nonarchitectural problem.
Traditionally, architects have tried to design things to be prefabricated using either existing or new means, as opposed to designing functional and integrated delivery methods. Prefab will continue to be a niche approach until we can add to the understanding of what is possible. This means recognizing that design is only one of many imperatives in the prefab question.
Real development for the industry will come from young designers who are able to approach the problem from a more globalized vantage point. This group is able to think in terms of complete front-to-back business models. They are aware of the needs and limits of manufac- turing processes but also are versed in new technologies, entrepreneurial methods, how capital works, strategic partnerships, and the importance of marketing and branding. This group will not design buildings but rather solutions for distributed delivery methods like those promoted by Kent Larson at MIT, who is leading the way toward rationalized industry-wide changes to benefit us all, rather than just promoting an individual vision or aesthetic.
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The more I read about prefab housing the more I like the idea. I think it's scoffed at primarily by the baby boomer generation as they saw prefab houses as the cheap and affordable housing offered to GI's post-WWII. Now, with companies like Rocio Romero making prefab houses, I think the idea behind it has completely changed. Given that you're willing to deal with smaller spaces and more modern lines, prefab housing can be a wonderful alternative "regular" methods of housing.
In the sense that prefab is generated to solve the problem of cheap affordable housing that isn't cheap of quality, Rocio Romero is in a class of their own. Sieggal has done a great job creating prefab housing in her own right, however it is pretty pricey. The same is said for most other options out there that produce a great, non-conventional form or aesthetic. However, Romero has achieved something really fantastic. Not only is it customizable with simple construction and materials, but it is beyond affordable! It is a great accomplishment. There are far too many people out there that buy "mcmansions" that are way out of their price range and are talked into mortgages they cannot afford and are stuck with little to no interior furnishings and end up foreclosing in a matter of a few years. Projects like Romero's need to be advertised much better so that people realize they have options.
As a structural mover, we move and re-install site-built homes all the time, and have for decades. I believe pre-fab / modular construction's time has come. The benefits of creating a structure in a clean warehouse, void of rain delays and a fear of heights, are enormous. I want to challenge the designers to step up and out of the box further. Our industry is proof that not all of these sections need be 11' wide or less. We easily haul 26' wide and up, often to 32' or more. I'm glad that everyone else is finally catching up.
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