The Prefabricated Home

by Colin Davies

From sash windows and ceramic tiles to barracks and warehouses, industrialized building has thrived since the nineteenth century in Europe and America. Yet architects have neglected this area of practical construction in favor of historical, theoretical, and artistic analyses, resulting in the emergence of an influential building industry with architects on the far margins. Colin Davies explores in The Prefabricated Home how the relationship between architecture and industrialized building has now become an urgent issue for architects.

The Prefabricated Home outlines the methods and motives of prefabricated buildings and assesses their architectural implications. Davies traces the origins of the branded building phenomenon with examples ranging from the Dymaxion bathroom to IKEA's "Bo Klok" house. He also analyzes the use of industrialized buildings worldwide—including McDonald's drive-through restaurants and contrasts the aesthetic concerns of architects against the economic ones of industrialized building manufacturers. Ultimately, The Prefabricated Home proposes a partnership of architects and industrialized building that could potentially produce an exciting new type of humane and eco-conscious architecture.

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Talbot Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an historical book on architecture, the history of architecture was actually the least engaging part of this work; the introduction was an excellent balance of history, philosophy, and design theory, and the first part was intensely enjoyable to read. The chapter on Authorship was my utter favorite, making me question some of my fundamental assumptions about architecture. I'm not sure my opinions changed drastically, but they did change, and that is something. I have never been a fan of prefabricated architecture, so to speak, and still less modern modular structures (including this nonsense with shipping crates), but the contextualization I gained from reading this history has given me (dare I say it?) a new appreciation.

[Nozomi]

Thorough and engaging overview of the history of prefab houses. Alarming to remind oneself "80% of buildings in US are built without architects." He decodes the common fear/despise (by architects) of prefab architecture by pointing out the equally non-site specific and serial nature of any vernacular architecture as the majority of housing practice in pre modern times. Geographically it only covers, the US, Japan, UK, Austria and Scandinavia. Curious to see other countries unmentioned here.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an excellent book - explaining the modern history of pre fabricated housing and the peculiar tension between the systems and processes surrounding pre fabrication and the professional practice of architecture