Prefab

Rating:
Summary: finally, a comprehensive book on prefab
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Prefab: pretty fabulous
Review: It looks like a coffee table book yet reads like a dream. This is not only one of the most comprehensive books on the subject, but easily the most lucid and engaging. The authors clearly had fun with the material and manage to convey a good deal of knowledge - including the history and future of prefabricated housing - without a whiff of pedantry or pedagogical claptrap.

Rating:
Summary: Prefab
Review: 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.)

Rating:
Summary: Great options for well-designed affordable housing
Review: This book shows that there ARE options for innovative and affordable modern homes. Prefabrication has lots to recommend it; what's been holding it back is a lack of good materials and design. Prefab will hopefully help to change that...

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: This was a very nice book, but I have to admit that it was not quite what I had hoped for. I was looking for alot of information on Modern/Contemporary homes, more toward the 50's and 60's style, and from the look of the cover, I felt that was what was inside. Unfortunately, thats not the case at all, even the cover house was somewhat of a let-down inside. There is a little information on the square block metal homes of the 50's period, but most of the works are completely unliveable, done only for an original look (we are talking about 2 room homes shaped like cars)...if you are looking for an interesting conversation/coffee table book, this is nice, but not a necessity for the lover of modern homes!

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: This was a very nice book, but I have to admit that it was not quite what I had hoped for. I was looking for alot of information on Modern/Contemporary homes, more toward the 50's and 60's style, and from the look of the cover, I felt that was what was inside. Unfortunately, thats not the case at all, even the cover house was somewhat of a let-down inside. There is a little information on the square block metal homes of the 50's period, but most of the works are completely unliveable, done only for an original look (we are talking about 2 room homes shaped like cars)...if you are looking for an interesting conversation/coffee table book, this is nice, but not a necessity for the lover of modern homes!

Rating:
Summary: Good intro and overview, but not the whole story
Review: While this is a beautiful book with some specific details on prefab in the modern age, it left me still wanting more. After reading Dwell ever since its inception, this seemed a bit light and redundant. If you want to own every book on the subject, then by all means purchase it (I would understand: prefab modern is becoming an obsession for me). But I prefer 'Prefab Modern' by Jill Herbers (not all would agree: I noticed that one amazon reviewer recommends this one, Prefab, over the Herbers title).