Prefab Modern [Hardcover]

Jill Herbers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

For many, the idea of prefab may bring to mind trailers and other less desirable images of housing.Instead, the new prefab is becoming the inevitable next step to "cool" housing as home buyers look for distinctive yet reasonably priced first and second homes. One in six new houses today is a prefab and 400,000 units are now produced in the U.S. each year. More than 50% of all homes are constructed in whole or in part by using building systems -- modular, panelized components produced in quality controlled environments. This exploration of the best prefabricated houses on the market today, from all over the world, along with a resource directory on how you can purchase them, is an invaluable reference for those interested in this alternative.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Who says dream houses are only for the rich? The ongoing revolution in prefabricated homes brings innovative, contemporary design to the masses, transforming "trailer trash to trailer chic," declares architectural writer Herbers. These diverse projects by 15 firms-from Michael Graves’s Pavilions (designed for Target as freestanding structures or home additions) to Rocio Romero’s LV Home building kit-are not only inexpensive, they’re also sturdy, transportable, adaptable and, most revolutionary of all, purchasable online. Much of the secret to cutting costs is using readily available materials such as steel, glass and aluminum, and cutting the building process down to a few days. As a result, several bargain homes featured sell for well under $100,000 and can be assembled by the owner-like Romero’s rustic Fish Camp House for $30,000, including furnishings, or Adam Kalkin’s Quik Build House for $50,000. Glossy photographs highlight these sleek, functional spaces, and pages are enriched by detailed house plans and Herbers’ anecdotal narration of their genesis. The blond wood floors and window-lined bookshelves in Oskar Leo Kaufman’s signature SU-SI House, for example, were originally designed for his sister Suzy and offer a clean, minimalist feel along with plenty of light and storage. Herbers situates the projects within a brief history of modern prefab and muses on the future of the movement. Most important, she aims to make this architectural spectacle as functional as the designs it features by including a final section on "Constructing Prefab," with advice on new materials and processes, building guidelines and a list of material sources. Like prefab modern itself, this book successfully combines both style and practicality. 100 color photographs.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jill Herbers has written various articles on architecture and interior design for dozens of publications, including House Beautiful, Home, Metropolis, The New Yorker, and ID. She also writes a Universal Press Syndicate column appearing in over 200 newspapers, and is the author of several previous books, including the best-seller Tile. Jill lives in Princeton, NJ.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Collins Design; 1ST edition (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006058923X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060589233
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good catalogue, but not a book to collect, March 21, 2005

By 

ArchiZona "archidreamer" (Phoenix, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prefab Modern (Hardcover)

I fully agree with one reviewer's (shawn murphy) comments. This book serves really good as a catalogue of what's available on the market right now (though not comprehensive enough). In general, the text focuses on customers' perspective, not from an architect's lense. Hence, you will know what you will get if you order these houses, but not enough information about the design philosophy and creative ideas behind these products. You can just pick up this book and skim through it at a bookstore. Write down the names of the houses and architects you are interested. Then google them for more information.

For example, I am really interested in the cool Bombala Farmhouse on page 102, and two other houses designed by Collins & Turner. However, the text in the book did not tell me a lot about these designes. You can find more information on the architects' website.

Another example: On page 122-123, the author described the House in the Woods designed by Resolution:4 Architecture. In fact, this very house is the winner of Dwell magazine's 1st Dwell Home Design Competition. You can find more detailed and thoughtful reports about this prefab design in two issues of the Dwell magazine (Oct/Nov 2004, and Dec 2004).

That being said, the book also has several strengths. It does provide a lot of information considering the number of prefab houses and the future designs or concept houses featured in the book. The section of "constructing prefab" is informative, too. Overall, it is an okay book (maybe 3.5 star is a more appropriate rating). But, if you are a serious reader about prefab architecture, this is not a valuable book to purchase and collect for you library.

62 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars modern, yes; but very few homes available as prefabs, July 24, 2005

By 

Michael B. Brand (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Prefab Modern (Hardcover)

I was disappointed with this book. It includes profiles of 15 architectural firms. Seven of those profiles were of firms that have done one-off architect-designed homes made largely of pre-existing materials (usually shipping containers). That is not my definition of a prefab house. To me, a prefab house is one that I can order to be built on my lot. Of the eight firms that offer prefab houses, for three of them only computer-generated images were presented (not photos of real houses). That leaves only five firms offering prefab houses ready for market. Of those, one builds 10 houses per year in Finland. Another is in Australia. Two offer only really small homes (generally intended as second homes).

The book does include (small) design plans and many photos for most of the houses. However, the fact that very few of those homes are available for me to purchase makes the book almost useless.
[...]

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mostly lightweight fluff, February 26, 2006

By 

Miss Meliss "seeking knowledge" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prefab Modern (Hardcover)

For anyone new to this subject matter this book is a basic starting point. However the more you learn about the topic from other sources the more you realize this book is just lightweight fluff. This was simply opportunistic publishing of a coffee table book while the topic was hot. The author has little expertise in the subject matter (is she a contract writer? - her previous book was about tiles) and the book reads like breathless brochureware. If you want to research the topic for free check out the great web site fabprefab.com which predates this book and is frequently updated. Also there are other great books on prefab such as Colin Davies The Prefabricated Home.