The Architecture of the City

The benefits of using prefabrication are many, and can result in beautiful homes that function just as well or better than custom ones built on site.

Using modular techniques for construction allows for stronger purchasing power. The process of building on site is also much quicker—and cheaper. Prefabrication is also greener since it uses computer technology to manufacture the modules, which creates 50% to 75% less material waste. The one limitation of prefabrication is that the pieces of the home need to be able to be shipped from the factory to the site of assembly.

But the benefits of prefabrication are many, and can result in beautiful homes that function just as well or better than custom ones built on site.

Check out these 10 examples of prefab architecture at the link.

Wood, stone and books… 3 elements that don’t seem to have very much in common create the main characteristics of the living roomof this loft of 250m, where Fernanda Marques succeeded to make a dream escape from urban frenzy.

The nature plays much more than a mere supporting role: one just has to note the intense use of daylight. The use of materials in their rough state was a fundamental idea for its decoration. Daylight, highlighted textures, fully open to the outside… the key to furnish a house somewhere in between a country villa and a modernist home design.

This four-bedroom vacation home is a study in spatial efficiency, coming in under 2,000 SF of living area including 1,700 SF of modular construction and 240 SF of site-built construction.

The design can be adapted to any site of the owners choosing. The two-story factory-built modular house has a reverse living plan to maximize available terraces and views for the primary family kitchen, dining and living areas, while tucking three bedrooms and a master suite into the lower level.

Conceived specifically to touch lightly on the landscape both during and after construction, this home is ideal for flood-prone areas. This home is comprised of two living volumes that are joined by a prefabricated, site assembled entrance staircase that provides an immediate visual and physical connection to the upper level.

Each volume is made of two stacked modular units, that when raised on piloti, allow the landscape to move through and under the house that provides an environmentally sensitive and visually dramatic design solution...

With intent to emphasize the structural elements, and to seek to highlight the local construction methods and materials, design work was done using fine timber formwork in order to leave a permanent imprint on the exposed concrete.

The large windows explore the opportunities to open the space as much as possible, and using floor to ceiling windows allows the rooms to become a balcony. Existing vegetation is preserved so that when you open the windows you could have a visual relationship with the existing trees.

White was used for horizontal and vertical planes (slabs and walls) in order to cause the spread of natural light. Materials such as tempered glass, wood and exposed concrete used in its size, and natural shades create an architecture that is restrained and straightforward.