Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Architecture & Design: Inside the Glidehouse

The January '06 Wired had a fascinating article about architect Michelle Kaufmann and her trailblazing concepts of prefab architecture, including the Glidehouse.

The article itself isn't on the Web yet, but I definitely recommend checking out her work and what it can offer.

One of the problems modern homebuilders face is the simple lack of usable land for designing homes. People want their cake to eat and have--affordability, luxury, convenience, and usability all-in-one. Now that the market is beginning to flatten out, people are (hopefully) going to be less interested in McMansions and mini-castles, simply because they're out of their price range. Speaking only for myself, I don't care if my house rolled off a factory line or got built by a team of Albanian sheepherders, as long as it's a nice place to live.

One advantage that prefabbers can take hold of is that the Midwest housing boom is tailor-made for them (excuse the phrasing :)). Lots of available land, not many landmarks or much congestion to deal with. If buyers take more of a modernist view and push for something a little better than trailer parks or cookie-cutter sh%$tbox condos, the Glidehouse could be the wave of the future, both economically and aesthetically.

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The January '06 Wired had a fascinating article about architect Michelle Kaufmann and her trailblazing concepts of prefab architecture, including the Glidehouse. The article itself isn't on the Web yet, but I definitely recommend checking out her work and what it can offer. One of the problems modern homebuilders face is the simple lack of usable land for designing homes. People want their cake to eat and have--affordability, luxury, convenience, and usability all-in-one. Now that the market is beginning to flatten out, people are (hopefully) going to be less interested in McMansions and mini-castles, simply because they're out of their price range. Speaking only for myself, I don't care if my house rolled off a factory line or got built by a team of Albanian sheepherders, as long as it's a nice place to live. One advantage that prefabbers can take hold of is that the Midwest housing boom is tailor-made for them (excuse the phrasing :)). Lots of available land, not many landmarks or much congestion to deal with. If buyers take more of a modernist view and push for something a little better than trailer parks or cookie-cutter sh%$tbox condos, the Glidehouse could be the wave of the future, both economically and aesthetically. Worth pondering over, eh?