On the domestic scale, QuaDror not only provides the structural integrity of the home, but adds quite a bit of visual interest to the interior.

Wee Approve Inflate the scale of the support trestles, add floors and ceilings, and you have the core of the QuaDror prefab house. The QD 01-06 dwellings, created in partnership with Minnesota prefab outfit weeHouse, range from 900 to 3,000 square feet—“single and double story, and two versions that are elevated off the ground, which is beneficial for certain climates,” Benshetrit says. As with the trestles, the QD interlocking frame modules, constructed from eight beams, are shipped flat and set up onsite. “The whole house shouldn’t take more than a few days to assemble,” the designer says. “It’s really and truly a kit—a lucid system that results in a product you park on your land.” QD 01-06 houses will be available this spring.

Dave Hakkens onstge at Design Indaba. Image courtesy of Design Indaba.

Ian Murchison, co-founder of the Federal, onstage at Design Indaba. Image courtesy of Design Indaba.

Teshia Treuhaft addresses the Design Indaba conference in Cape Town on February 26. Photo courtesy of Design Indaba.

Benjamin Hubert, Layer British industrial designer Benjamin Hubert walked the audience through the time and energy it takes to design an original object, then unveiled a data-driven plan to drastically cut waste. Arguing that we have more than enough chairs, tables, and sofas already, he suggested that designers put some of their resources toward more socially conscious work. Layer, for instance, recently redesigned charity donation cups for businesses in England, driving an 80 percent uptick in contributions.

Yogita Agrawal, Yogita Agrawal Design Recent Parsons graduate Yogita Agrawal electrified attendees with Jhoule, a wearable task light that is motion-powered. Made for rural communities in India, where people walk an average of 1-2 hours every day on unlit streets, the device underwent a redesign after an unsuccessful first launch to resemble traditional jewelry.

Christian Benimana, MASS Studio Rwanda The audacity of Rwandan-born architect Christian Benimana's mission—to uplift working conditions and infrastructure in the developing world—is matched by his personal biography. Inspired by design early on in life, Benimana was crestfallen to learn his country had no formal architecture schools, so he relocated to Shanghai, taught himself Mandarin, and put himself through a program there. Now, as part of MASS Studio, he has returned to Rwanda, where he designs social infrastructure with a "lo-fab" approach, using local designers and materials to swell the economy. "Who builds something is just as important as how it's built," he noted.

Jaime Hayon, Hayon Studio Spain's Jaime Hayon explored how, even after countless big-name collaborations, he continues to find fresh ways to make high-design fun. "When you think you know it all, the best place is to start from zero again," said Hayon, who then shared the unusual inspiration behind some of his most famous pieces. His Ro chair for Fritz Hansen was inspired by penguins and his Milá chair for Magis is meant to evoke a pineapple.

Paloma Strelitz and James Binning, Assemble Studio Representing the young London collective Assemble, Paloma Strelitz and James Binning shared why it's important to be imaginative about what neglected urban spaces can be redeemed, showcasing work in former gas stations and underpasses. The pair's advice for designers just starting out: "Self-initiate projects, [or risk] coming to the table too late to ask the big questions."

The presentation by Jongerius was one of the very first to kick off the list of acclaimed speakers appearing at Design Indaba this week. We’ll be reporting on the highlights as they unfold—be sure to check back. Last words from Jongerius: “Products must communicate more than just the ‘new’’.

Alfredo Brillembourg, Urban-Think Tank American-born architect Alfredo Brillembourg, who founded Urban-Think Tank in Venezuela, invigorated the crowd at the end of the first day with a sweeping vision for a new urbanism in the developing world. Summarizing the state of city planning in Africa at the outset ("Informality is the new normality"), he proceeded to lambaste earlier generations of architects for their complicity in perpetuating segregation and inequality, before calling for a more ethical and free-thinking practice built from the bottom-up.

Sou Fujimoto, Sou Fujimoto Architects Internationally recognized Tokyo architect Sou Fujimoto presented on the ideal balance of indoor and outdoor, private and public, in the home. "Good architecture," he noted, "lets people choose between gradations [of nature] for infinite functions." Here, he shares his mind-bending 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, made of delicate steel bars.

Erik Kessels, KesselsKramer Through the Dutch creative agency he helped found, Erik Kessels has made a name for himself zig-zagging around norms and expectations in advertising. He once rebranded a budget Amsterdam inn as "the worst hotel in the world" to distinguish it from other prim hospitality ads, a risky campaign that led to the business's international expansion. Kessels told Design Indaba he plumbs misdirection and pretzel logic to make his most memorable work.

Thomas Chapman, Local Studio Architect Thomas Chapman is inspired by the conviction that South Africans must "reknit" historically segregated communities using public space. To stifle popular demonstrations, the apartheid-era government restricted where assembly halls could be built, a legacy that has left the nation a paucity of community hubs. Local Studio recasts disused infrastructure in Johannesburg, such as a former German consulate building, as affordable housing, cultural centers, and parks.

Close down the accordion-like Honeycomb lamp and you're left with a small stack of QuaDror connectors. Lift it up again and the cube comes back to life.

Essentially the same as the trestle desk, here the QuaDror joints are blown up to a massive scale and used to support a bridge.

Itawuli by MungoMungo's flat-weave towels, made on antique looms in Plettenberg Bay, have traditionally reflected a strong British influence. But they've taken a detour with their new diamond weave towels in colorways like mulberry with partridge brown, hot orange, and forest green. While the pattern has an echo of traditional shweshwe fabric from the Eastern Cape, the contrasting stripe is more typical of Basutu blankets. Made of 100% cotton from Swaziland.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

Indaba is a restaurant situated in a converted mechanic’s shop. Tyler stripped back the interior to expose the structure of the building and simply furnished to create a contemporary fusion eatery. Photo by Fraser Shiers.

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

Maxwell Mutanda & Safia Qureshi, Studio [D] Tale Designers Maxwell Mutanda and Safia Qureshi run Studio [D] Tale, a multinational firm based in Cape Town, London, and Harare, Zimbabwe. Together, they orchestrate ambitious, user-driven solutions to social and environmental problems, like making a wayfinding network for cities with informal public transit or a system for giant coffee chains to replace disposable cups with reusable ones.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

The Japanese "no-brand" masters of minimalism unveil the first single-story design in their line of prefab homes.

Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot. This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.

Because the house is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

“Before, the house turned its back on the landscape,” said Parish. “This renovation and addition really animates the garden.” Sliding glass doors match those of the living room beyond the deck, and both can be completely open to the yard.

Tom Givone’s clients, Rose and Steve Smith, teach overseas and have owned their house for 26 years. They intended to fix it up slowly and retire there. As one problem led to another, they reached a point when they felt their only option, as Rose put it, was to “burn it down.”

In the photos that follow, we take a look at the product offerings inspired by the house, which Yeon designed when he was only 27 years old.