This book presents 23 houses from Europe, South America and the USA. Their common thread: the use of prefabrication, in one form or another, as well as various eco-friendly strategies.
The designs run the gamut from sleek modernist pavilions to those using vernacular architecture as a design cue. A house utilizing cargo containers; a floating 'barge' house; a house
draped with a tent-like solar reflecting skin. These are here, as well as other inventive takes on the rectilinear forms so often associated with prefab construction. Each house is covered
in 6 to 10 page chapters with a brief introduction and photo captions, in English, French and German, discussing the prefab and sustainable features employed. Color photographs, plans
and elevations are provided for each house, while many are additionally represented with building sections, axonometric views, exploded views and construction photos.
All in all, a very informative overview of the possibilities provided by prefab to the residential designer, as well as to the potential homeowner. However, it should be noted that this is not really
a catalog of off-the-shelf, purchase ready homes available for prompt trucking to your site. While there are several notable examples that approach this ideal, most of the works presented
here are customized, one of a kind designs that make use of the prefab method in order to reduce cost and/or raise quality.
A lot of information and inspiration at a very reasonable price.