TED Blog
« MemeWatch: Evil Search Engines | Main | The Proper Way To Fold A Shirt »
13 December 2005
TrendWatch: Pre-fab houses
2005 was perhaps the break-out year for the pre-fab home. The year’s dozen or so inspired offerings drew widespread coverage in the design press. And Dwell Magazine went as far as launching their own line of ready-to-build houses. The appeal of the Dwell Homes — and other pre-fabs — is that they deliver reasonably cost-conscious options for style-seeking nesters. For a quick, satisfying look at the state-of-the-art, this BusinessWeek slide show offers a sampler, including Alchemy Architects’ weeHouse (pictured), Charlie Lazor’s FlatPak, and Ikea’s BoKlok. A few notables that BW skipped: Adam Kalkin’s Push Button house, which automatically unpacks itself, and Werner Aisslinger’s Loftcube, designed to perch on an urban rooftop.
Discuss this Blog Post
-
Piers Fawkes
Dec 13 2005Sorry to leave a link and run but thought you might be interested in this: One of our Contributors did a great review of the PreFab movement back in March.
-
June Cohen
Dec 13 2005Thanks so much for the tip, Rich! I’m totally intrigued by the Walker exhibit. Great name (Some Assembly Required: Contemporary Prefabricated Houses) and a spot-on collection. I see they also feature the weeHouse and the FlatPak. And a few I haven’t seen, like the Black Barn in Stockholm (very different aesthetic). I’m tempted to brave the cold!
-
rocky point
May 9 2009Modern steel roof sheeting is coated with an alloy of zinc and aluminum to give it some of the durability of each of those materials at a lower cost and higher strength than either.
Metal Roofing is a very versatile building material. It is durable. It can be used on residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural buildings. It is not only used in roofing applications, but also may be used as a wall covering.
http://www.newrooflongisland.com
Roof Installer
Find stories on the TED Blog about:
Like TED
on Facebook
Follow TED on Twitter:
@TEDNews | @TEDTalks
Subscribe to TED RSS feeds:
TED Blog | More RSS Options
Subscribe to TED's weekly newsletter
See 1,000+ TEDTalks in a spreadsheet:
Looking for lightweight downloads? Use TED's Quick List
Spot a glitch on TED.com? Report a bug
Blogs we watch
+ TEDPrize.org
+ TED Fellows blog
+ TEDx Blog
+ tedquotes.tumblr.com
+ Thomas Dolby | TED Musical Director, blogging at ThomasDolby.com
+ The indispensable Global Voices
Watch the 4-minute video A Taste of TED2012:
June Cohen
Thanks, Piers! Interesting contextual piece there, with some good history to it. It also offers a bridge to a related topic on our minds (and in the news) these days: the need for thoughtfully designed temporary housing for refugee camps and other disaster-relief scenarios. TEDPrize winner Cameron Sinclair spends a lot of time thinking about this challenge (It’s an area of focus for his non-profit Architecture for Humanity).