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Prefab NEWFAB
By J.A. Romig | JUN.24.07
Practicality is the marriage of Prefab/Modular design with environmental responsibility. |
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The Mongols of early Central Asia and the High Plains Indians both created efficient, tent-like structures that served their nomadic lifestyle. The Inuit of the Antarctic blew a hole through Darwinian adaptation when they discovered they could make bricks out of snow. Before cut stone and masonry, long before mankind ever wrote a single word, there was the art of shelter. All living things need air, food and water but not every life form is able to build its own domicile. Our opposable thumbs combined with our central nervous systems have enabled humans to not only build shelters but to build them with windows, air conditioning and indoor plumbing. The fact is we humans simply would not be here if it weren't for the Yurt of early Asia, the Tipi of the American Indian or the Igloo of the Inuit. Without those prehistoric, temporary forms of housing, we would have died out with the animals we hunted and the fields of grass they followed.
Practicality.
After a time, permanence became practical. When people figured out how to plant crops and domesticate animals, the vagabond life was essentially vanquished. Somewhere along the line people lost control of their housing, especially poor people. The rich could afford to build within a city. The masses however, were at the mercy of city planners and slumlords. It wasn't until the advent of the industrial revolution that consideration was paid to the welfare of the living conditions of the multitudes.
Fire trapping hovels were replaced by concrete and steel monoliths (made on the cheap) based on ideas envisioned by minds like Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright and Le Corbusier adapted the assembly line model of Henry Ford to architecture. One man emulated nature, the other tried to restructure it but each one foresaw the coming population boom and the practicality of Prefab housing. Suddenly the portable homes of our ancient ancestors were renewed, better, stronger and infinitely affordable.
Le Corbusier never got the opportunity to raze Paris and reconfigure it but all over Europe there are swaths of communities and dwellings inspired by his L'Esprit Nouveau industrial design. Wright inspired generations of architects with his modular approach that was born out of a childhood love for geometric building blocks.
In the first half of the twentieth century, Sears and Roebuck packed a hundred thousand kit homes into boxes and shipped them to buyers nationwide. This Prefab/Modular construction went on well into the second half of the last century. In the late seventies society started to pay consideration to the welfare of the planet. Despite a brief, gluttonous interlude in the 80's and 90's, building to save the environment - as opposed to destroying it - has only become more popular. Today, practicality is the marriage of Prefab/Modular design with environmental responsibility.
Why Prefab? Why Now?
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Prefab Factoids
 Kit homes first gained prominence during the California Gold rush as cheap housing for prospectors. Beginning at the end of the 1800's, retailers like Sears Roebuck sold 100,000 kit homes via catalog. Today, retailers like Target are jumping into the Prefab/Modular market, offering "Pavilions" that anyone can order online for as low as $10,000.
A Yurt is a handmade, portable shelter used by early humans in Central Asia. Nomadic tribes travel with herds of sheep. The wool from these sheep provided the outer cover of the Yurt, called a Shangrak. A family would assemble a round, lattice frame out of wood and slip the Shangrak over it. The family Shangrak was kept for generations and is one of history's original Prefab houses.
A Mobile Home or "trailer" is not categorized as Prefab or Modular. Mobile homes have wheels and no foundation.
Le Corbusier based his architectural scale on the mathematical "golden ratio", a favorite of Leonardo da Vinci, as illustrated by da Vinci's famous "Vitruvian Man".
Frank Lloyd Wright believed in the philosophy that a design should evolve from the existing landscape. Wright mapped out every detail of a home from furniture to fixtures. In fact, he was one of the very first to install electrical light fixtures in houses.
When a home is constructed from scratch and new materials, it is referred to as a "stick built" house.
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The United States produces more than half of the world's overall waste. Of that waste, over sixty percent of it comes from building construction. Prefab and Modular housing saves construction waste by roughly 30% over scratch. Many times, the separate elements of Prefab/Modular are made from recycled materials. In addition, Modular houses are especially adaptable to the Green movement. Solar panels look more appropriate when nestled among the clean lines of a modern home. The builder will find it easier to hook up alternative, earth-friendly utility systems for water and power. In the long run, the Prefab/Modular home is energy efficient, low maintenance, spacious and elegant. In the short run these modern designs are low cost, quick and relatively easy to implement.
From reconfigured shipping crates to used wood and stone, replacing fresh cut and quarried, you can literally order a house made to order. Whether your erect it yourself or pay a professional, Prefab/Modular will cost you almost half what it costs to build new. You have ultimate control over every aspect of your project. If you want a 50:50 ratio of window to wall, you can build it. If you just want to add an extra room or wing to your existing structure, you can save on every aspect of the process from pre-made stairs to ready-built roofs.
A new advantage to Prefab/Modular design is the many architects embracing the concept. Some are selling kit houses for as little as $40,000. Others will work with you as you set the rules and make the decisions. Regardless, the fact remains that you can achieve complete control over your new home, business or extra room for $100-$300 per square foot. Fans of Prefab/Modular remark constantly about the ease and economical advantages of these dwellings.
When the armies and corporations of the post WWII era installed early Prefab, the intent was for temporary domiciles. Yet, many of those 50-year old structures still stand throughout the world. When artists and urban yuppies leased out warehouse and loft space in the late 20th century, this showed the generational shift towards construction freedom that lies at the very heart of the Prefab/Modular notion. Perhaps the current popularity of Prefab/Modular housing is more a result of progress than trend. Almost anyone can benefit from building a home or office by incorporating pre-made or recycled components. When it comes to money, a new home or additional room is a formidable expense in almost any budget. Combine savings with the fact that today's Prefab/modular homes are stylish, airy, configurable and ecologically sound, there's little mystery to why doctors, blue-dollar workers, families, singles, boomers and Gen Xers are all adopting to build the Prefab way.
What are Prefab and Modular?
These days the terms have almost become synonymous. Still, there is a difference between the two. Prefab is more of a manufacturing phrase. At one time, a Prefab home meant the entire structure was sold, pre-built. Prefab houses were transported by train or flatbed trucks and all one had to do was attach the pipes and wires. Now, we have Prefab siding, foundations, frames and more. Prefab is about the union of construction and mass manufacturing.
Modular refers to an architectural theory. Wright and fellows like Buckminster Fuller looked to the geometric patterns of nature as well as the practices of early man. The honeycomb of the beehive and the all-in-one habitats of our ancestors gave birth to Modular blueprints. A Modular home came in pieces, all designed to interconnect. One could practically snap it together like Legos. Mix and match. Have actual fun building a home.
In an age where anything is technologically possible, people have begun to appreciate the very necessary gifts this planet offers. Clean land, clean water and clean lines. People are turning to the Internet to construct their own homes in their own way. Individuals and companies are finding each other. Prefab/Modular construction is the hippest, greenest, easiest, most affordable way to get it done. Prefab and Modular projects are practical and relative to every present day concern. Our prehistoric ingenuity with Yurts and Tipis is reborn with Prefab and Modular. Our future depends on how we build it.
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| | By J.A. Romig | FOKaL Writer |
| [ JUN.24.07 ] |
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