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Meet the Faces Behind Our 2015 Prefab Issue

For Dwell's annual issue dedicated to prefab, we visited easy-to-assemble homes from Chicago to Paris. Here, we introduce you to the photographers and writers who made it happen.

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Covering architecture and interior design for publications including The Wall Street Journal and Cultured, writer Ron Broadhurst is the author of The Urban House and Retreat: The Modern House in Nature. He traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to report on a stunning seaside prefab. “Aside from architect Peter Rose’s extraordinary solution to potentially dire site conditions, I was impressed by the low profile of the house, which is virtually invisible from theneighboring sites,” he says. When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “It conjures images of structurescomposed of an extremely limited palette of materials, namely steel and glass. For me, East House was a revelation because of its richness and variety of materials.”
Covering architecture and interior design for publications including The Wall Street Journal and Cultured, writer Ron Broadhurst is the author of The Urban House and Retreat: The Modern House in Nature. He traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to report on a stunning seaside prefab. “Aside from architect Peter Rose’s extraordinary solution to potentially dire site conditions, I was impressed by the low profile of the house, which is virtually invisible from theneighboring sites,” he says. When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “It conjures images of structurescomposed of an extremely limited palette of materials, namely steel and glass. For me, East House was a revelation because of its richness and variety of materials.”
Glasgow-based writer and editor Caroline Ednie contributes to a broad range of national and international books, magazines, newspapers, and online publications. She covered the Forest Lodge, a prefabricated mobile dwelling in Hampshire, England, for this issue. “I love the fact that the home arrived on site as two halves of a shell, and it’s now a spatially seamless dwelling,” she says. “A bit like the mobile home equivalent of a Fabergé egg.” When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “For me it means the post-WWII prefab houses, one of which my auntie lived in for a while, and loved—even the corrugated metal roof that made a racket when rain bounced off of it (which happens quite a lot in Scotland!).”
Glasgow-based writer and editor Caroline Ednie contributes to a broad range of national and international books, magazines, newspapers, and online publications. She covered the Forest Lodge, a prefabricated mobile dwelling in Hampshire, England, for this issue. “I love the fact that the home arrived on site as two halves of a shell, and it’s now a spatially seamless dwelling,” she says. “A bit like the mobile home equivalent of a Fabergé egg.” When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “For me it means the post-WWII prefab houses, one of which my auntie lived in for a while, and loved—even the corrugated metal roof that made a racket when rain bounced off of it (which happens quite a lot in Scotland!).”
During a two-year stint living in Paris, writer Stephen Heyman visited the house renovated by Djuric Tardio Architectes that’s featured in this issue. “Paris was in the grips of a blistering canicule, apparently one of the worst heat waves in memory,” he says. “Even the architect’s ingenious eco-friendly design—a roof that doubles as a pergola covered in vegetation, which usually keeps the house cool in summer—provided little relief.” Heyman’s column charting global cultural trends is published weekly in The New York Times’s international edition. Would you live in a modular home? “As far as residential fantasies go, it’s definitely on the list, and far more practical than my backyard tennis court or subterranean swimming pool.”
During a two-year stint living in Paris, writer Stephen Heyman visited the house renovated by Djuric Tardio Architectes that’s featured in this issue. “Paris was in the grips of a blistering canicule, apparently one of the worst heat waves in memory,” he says. “Even the architect’s ingenious eco-friendly design—a roof that doubles as a pergola covered in vegetation, which usually keeps the house cool in summer—provided little relief.” Heyman’s column charting global cultural trends is published weekly in The New York Times’s international edition. Would you live in a modular home? “As far as residential fantasies go, it’s definitely on the list, and far more practical than my backyard tennis court or subterranean swimming pool.”
Splitting his time between New York and London, Christopher Sturman studied photography at the Kent Institute of Art & Design and the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. His work includes an array of projects ranging from social documentary to lifestyle interiors. He captured “Corner the Market,” a story about a mixed-use property in an industrial Chicago neighborhood with a restaurant on the ground floor. His favorite part of the visit? “Eating the vegan lunch from [the homeowners’] café, Upton’s Breakroom,” he says. When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “My fantasy home built in upstateNew York. I like the idea of something with a midcentury feel in a modular solution.”
Splitting his time between New York and London, Christopher Sturman studied photography at the Kent Institute of Art & Design and the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. His work includes an array of projects ranging from social documentary to lifestyle interiors. He captured “Corner the Market,” a story about a mixed-use property in an industrial Chicago neighborhood with a restaurant on the ground floor. His favorite part of the visit? “Eating the vegan lunch from [the homeowners’] café, Upton’s Breakroom,” he says. When you hear the word “prefab,” what comes to mind? “My fantasy home built in upstateNew York. I like the idea of something with a midcentury feel in a modular solution.”