Home delivery: The amazing story of the prefabricated house A Prefab is a mass produced house, constructed in a factory and assembled on site in a few days or weeks. Once regarded as a cheap, easy solution for urgent housing problems, the prefab has evolved to become a synonym for ambitious design and sophisticated detailing solutions. The amazing history of prefabricated houses started in England in the 1830's with a building kit for emigrants moving to Australia. Even today, prefabricated houses provide a high percentage of living spaces in many countries of the world. This book covers prefabs from the USA via Europe to Asia and Africa, giving insight into the various industrially prefabricated components, the difficulties of delivery to the building site, and the intricacies of assembly and completion. As well as tracing the liaison between modernism and industrialization that evolved to produce the latest prefabricated solutions, it also features a unique compilation of one-off prefabricated houses by well known international architects, as well as successful dwellings manufactured off-site for everyday modern living. Readers will also find contact details for relevant suppliers and manufacturers.

The houses architects design for themselves The greatest challenge in designing homes is negotiating the delicate balance between aesthetics and the personal desires of the occupants. While it's important for the structure to reflect the vision and style of the architect, the client must ultimately feel at home beneath the roof. It is particularly interesting, therefore, to examine the homes that architects create for themselves. If houses reflect their owners' personalities, then architects' own homes are like autobiographies. Location, layout, style, lighting, artwork, furnishings — every detail adds color to the story. Each of these dwellings, presented A-Z by architect, speaks more about its designer than any other building possibly could.