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Product Description
Doors of Perception website, May 2002
...The challenges of light, flexible, non-permanent housing cry out for elegant solutions... That is exactly what we get in this book.
Dwell magazine, Sept/October 2002
PREFAB...presents the fascinating history of prefabricated housing--both its shortcomings and its enormous potential...
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Prefabricated building systems can be traced as far back as the seventeenth century when a panelized wood house was shipped from England to Cape Ann in 1624 to provide housing for a fishing fleet. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Prefabricated building systems can be traced as far back as the seventeenth century when a panelized wood house was shipped from England to Cape Ann in 1624 to provide housing for a fishing fleet. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
OK, but US. Fab photos,
By
This review is from: Prefab (Hardcover)
This is a nice coffee table kind of book, glossy photos of some amazing buildings, mostly new-build. An ideas book rather than an informative one, but pleasant enough all the same. I bought it whilst researching my book on UK prefabs (Palaces for the People: Prefabs in Post-War Britain). It wasn't at all useful for what I wanted but I enjoyed it all the same. Makes you want to move into a pod! Note it is US based and very much for that market. Possibly a bit overpriced?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews) 22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
finally, a comprehensive book on prefab,
By Jonathan Spero - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Prefab (Hardcover)
As an architecture student now a working as a builder, I couldnt help but being drawn into this book. Organized into 4 sections: History, Production, Custom, Concept, with a wide array of photographs, plans and renderings cleanly presented. The history section does a great job of bringing any curious reader interested in this subject up to speed, creating a great departure point for the 30 or so contemporary projects that follow it. This book is well researched and really gets you excited about the potential of prefab by presenting a wide range of projects in the U.S. and Internationally, exploring a wide range of techniques / systems being developed today. The future of housing looks bright with prefab!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting overview of prefab homes, past, present and future,
By Kelly Garbato "www.easyvegan.info" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Prefab (Hardcover)
In PREFAB, author Allison Arieff presents an interesting overview of "prefabricated" buildings, past, present, and future. Yet, I would not recommend this book to average modular home consumers, as many of the projects described in PREFAB are highly customized, somewhat eccentric, and generally impractical for those looking to save time and money by utilizing prefab construction as opposed to regular, stick-built construction. Some of the buildings aren't even single-family dwellings, but apartment buildings. Nonetheless, PREFAB is a helpful resource for those who'd like to learn more about the history of prefabricated buildings, as well as the current state of affairs, and in which unusual directions the industry will be headed in the future.
Arieff begins PREFAB with a lengthy (29-page) discussion of the history of prefabricated homes, starting with panelized wood homes in England and the US in 1624, through the American mobile home boom after WWII, and ending with the current state of the industry. The next three sections of the book are devoted to various modern prefab projects. The first, titled "Production," presents "a diverse group of well-designed houses and multi-family dwellings that are either in production, or poised to be." Of the three groups, "Production" is perhaps most relevant to the average consumer; it illustrates the sheer diversity of prefab homes that are available around the world. It also reflects how beautiful prefab homes can be, both inside and out. Next up is "Custom," an eclectic mix of "unique homes by architects less interested in the mass production of houses than in the aesthetic, environmental, and economic benefits of prefabrication." The buildings in this section are stunning - the Penthouse at Albert Court, which sells for $4 to $5 million, is my favorite. Finally, "Concept" features the strangest buildings of the bunch. According the Arieff, the concept buildings represent "a diverse array of virtual and conceptual prefab projects that employ everything from websites to neoprene in order to create the next generation of prefabricated housing." Experimental to the extreme, these plans seem geared towards architects, artists, and other design/construction professionals. For the beginner, PREFAB is an interesting and engaging introduction to the history of prefabricated housing. As my knowledge of construction and architecture is limited, I can't say whether students or professionals will find PREFAB especially enlightening. I found the author's writing to be crisp and captivating, and I thought there was a good balance of pictures and text. I would definitely recommend PREFAB to newbies who would like to know more about prefab housing; yet, I would direct those looking for a consumer or how-to guide to go elsewhere. Overall, an interesting read, but probably not for everyone (for example, I can see how pros might want additional pictures, larger graphics, and more detailed floor/elevation plans, especially given the book's high price tag). 22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prefab,
By Michael Webb - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Prefab (Hardcover)
Prebrication was the holy grail of modernism: the ideal way to rationalize the building process, achieve economies of scale, and bring good design to the masses. Sadly, the only manufactured housing to win wide acceptance was the trailer; architect-designed prototypes seldom left the boards. Arieff, who is senior editor of Dwell magazine, hopes that a new generation of architects may succeed where their forebears failed. She documents over 30 industrialized building projects, mostly from Europe, that combine practicality with design excellence. Sadly, it remains true that people who will happily buy one of a fleet of identical cars, become emotional and irrational when choosing their home. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)
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