For years the unwillingness of the production housing industry to consider Modern design has irked Rodney Friedman, FAIA. He founded his San Francisco Bay area firm, Fisher Friedman Associates, in the 1960s, the heyday of popular Modernism. But since then, Bauhaus-influenced design has been...
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street talk
We commissioned a recent survey on design in the housing market. Conducted by The Farnsworth Group and sponsored by Andersen Windows, 448 architects, mostly custom, were interviewed. To provide a counterpoint, 150 consumers were also interviewed.
Residential architects care deeply about the dwellings they design, striving always to make them highly livable, well-crafted, and beautiful at the same time. But making those qualities available to custom clients with tight budgets or applying them to price- and market-sensitive production houses...
home tomes
Accompanying the home building boom is a veritable bonanza of books about houses.
Many homes designed for discriminating clients today contain aspects of green building: passive solar orientation, non-toxic materials and finishes, and sustainably harvested woods. But those features are one-off alternatives to conventional construction, not part of a package.
The iMac proved that consumers crave high design within economic reach. Architect Michael Graves achieved household-name status selling teakettles at Target. So when Robert Humble, AIA, and Joel Egan, Associate AIA, insist that prefab is about to take off because the public is demanding design...
Like many architects, Geoffrey Warner welcomes change. Years ago, the St. Paul, Minn.–based architect quit his job at a big commercial firm in search of something missing from his professional life: the hands-on nuts-and-bolts of construction. “When you graduate from architecture school, you don't...
Architect Michelle Kaufmann and her contractor husband, Kevin Cullen, are conducting the ultimate prefab experiment. They're building their own Modern, site-built house in Marin County, Calif., while Kaufman sells the same design as a modular house she calls the Glidehouse.
It all started with a loft. Dozens of lofts, actually. For 15 years, the New York City firm Resolution: 4 Architecture has relied on a steady diet of loft renovations. “Doing a lot of high-end residential work in New York, we've learned to maximize each and every inch of space,” says co-founder...
Jennifer Siegal has worked on a kibbutz in Israel, traveled throughout Southeast Asia observing nomadic structures, and lived at the remote Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. But the most important trip she takes these days is to prosaic Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where production of her prefab...
we've investigated a cross-section of prefab-focused firms—some relatively experienced, others just getting their feet wet. read on to meet the seven bright sparks that charge that prefab housing is more than just a flash in the pan.
The Rockton toilet takes a practical approach to water conservation, offering two flushing options at the touch of a button—either 0.8 gallons or 1.6 gallons. The Dual Force flushing technology eliminates the need for double flushing, says the manufacturer.
The Rockton toilet takes a practical approach to water conservation, offering two flushing options at the touch of a button—either 0.8 gallons or 1.6 gallons. The Dual Force flushing technology eliminates the need for double flushing, says the manufacturer.
Ramdala solid birch door and drawer fronts fit any of Ikea's birch or white melamine cabinet frames, making a snappy addition to classic or contemporary kitchens.
Authentic Designs series combines fine detailing and stile-and-rail construction—without breaking the bank.
In conjunction with Zephyr, renowned artist and designer Fu-Tung Cheng brings his stylish range hoods to the discerning masses.
Cinderstone merges the edgy look of split-faced block with the endurance and economy of fiber cement.