The Prefabricated Home

Davies traces the origins of the branded building phenomenon, citing examples from the Portakabin, the Dymaxion bathroom and even ikea’s ‘Bo Klok’, a take-away flat-pack house for the individual buyer and small developer. After outlining the methods and motives of prefabricated buildings and assessing their architectural implications, the author also analyzes what is happening now in factories and on building sites over the world. He looks at the revival of interest in ‘volumetric’ modular buildings for housing, restaurants and petrol stations. A McDonalds drive-through restaurant, for example, takes just eight days to assemble on site. Finally he shows how prefabricated building manufacturers are unconcerned with the close relationship between the appearance and the method of construction that is so important to architects. Davies concludes that the involvement of architects in the new industrialized building has a potential to produce an exciting new architecture that is humane, liberating and environmentally friendly.