Highlights From Last Week - LamiDesign IBU News, DO RESEARCH's Big Move, MKD mkLotus

So hard to get back into the swing of things. I'm one of those people heavily governed by inertia. When I have momentum I keep it until something slows me down or changes my direction. When I have to build up speed again it goes sooo sloooowly.

To make things easy on myself I'll recap some interesting developments that happened while I was away:

Michelle Kaufmann and her firm MKD introduced a new model of her very green, prefab homes - the mkLotus. As usual, top marks for modern style, sustainable design and materials, and viable prefab. Love the green roof on this one. Via Prefab Wednesday on The Good Human.

Image credit - MKD site

The wonderful blog DO RESEARCH sprang back into high gear and fired off a flurry of nice posts in the last week or so. It has such a wonderful feel to it. If you haven't visited in a while check back with 'em. The big news is that they're soon relocating back to the USA from Reading, and now the time has come to put research into reality for a new home ... what will they DO?

Finally, the biggest news of all. Greg La Vardera posted a sneak peek of the LamiDesign IBU Building System on his blog. This is his take on a viable, modular, sea container based housing system that can be convincingly pitched to building authorities. I think that Greg's experience with stock plans and the EcoSteel houses puts him in a good position to succeed. Should be really interesting to see what happens with this. These concept layouts show just how versatile the IBU system could be.

Image credit - LamiDesign Blog

I saw some other neat things around the web, and as always put them in my shared Google Reader in the sidebar (does anyone ever look at that????) so you can browse that if you want. But these three were the real biggies of the week. I'd say I missed a pretty big week :( but the good news is it looks like there'll be more to come!

Prefab Modular "Option" from Bauart Architekten and WeberHaus

A couple weeks ago I finally bought the last of the Mini House books I didn't have - the first in the series actually (nothing like working backwards!). Great book, of course, and full of interesting homes. One in particular caught my eye, the "Option" house, sold in Europe by WeberHaus.

The Option is a modular prefab box originally designed by the Swiss firm Bauart Architekten, and called the Small House. And small it is, only 678 square feet. But it packs a lot of living in its two stories, thanks to its simple plan and clean, minimalist aesthetic. Take a look:






See what I mean? I really like it. Need more space? You're right, 678 square feet is pretty small. No problem. You can combine multiple Options to form a single structure. Some really interesting variants have been produced.

Like this one ...







... and this one.






Again, I must recommend reading the three Mini House books. They're excellent. The pics of the Option in the first book are great, and you'll see tons of other cool, small houses.

Image credits - WeberHaus

Architects Perrine and Maynard Tell it Like it Is - Respond with Cool Prefab Solutions

Over the past couple of days my Google Reader has been buzzing with good posts on cool modern prefabs. Here's a couple that I really liked:

The Perrinepod,via Equity Green. This statement from the Perrinepod site nails it:

"My design is about appreciating the beauty of simple, uncluttered space." The perrinepod is very functional, very sexy, very simple, with the form of the spaces inside following the function, there's no pretense, just simple, beautiful designs. It's a really cool thing to have no falseness - for example, the bathrooms are simply designed as a place to wash, backed up by quality materials.

Living spaces have become as transient and irrelevant as clothes. It's no longer a look for a generation, the look of 'now' only lasts for a three to four year period.

That approach is not sustainable and people are putting themselves under a lot of unnecessary pressure trying to keep up. The Perrine Pod is the antithesis of all of that - simple design, beautiful materials that will remain classic. It's not a 'look at me' statement, but a home that is comfortable, stylish and above all, functional." - Jean-mic Perrine

And, the Quon Modular, via Materialicio.us and via your abode .... environmentality. The Quon is the work of Australia's Andrew Mayndard. This guy's stuff just blows my mind. Every time I look at his site I get a boost. He has some of the funkiest designs. Maynard's firm is hot as the sun right now.

The Quon's manifesto, described in this quote from Maynard's site:

"We believe that the housing industry is in the dark ages, and as such are offering Quon as a premium modular housing product rather than a traditional hand built house. Delivery within 10 weeks of order, infinite arrangements based on our modular system and a procurement process more like purchasing a car than a home. It is our belief that more and more people are interested in fast, efficient and affordable living, and we intend on becoming the industry leader in Housing. Let the revolution begin."

Give me the party flag and tell me where the front lines are - I'm in, Comrade Maynard. Several are being built now - from off the grid in the boonies, to a rooftop of a seven story building in a densely populated urban jungle.





Perrine and Maynard are telling it like it is, and they're responding with some slick solutions.

The future of housing really is NOW.

Image credits - Perrinepod and Quon sites

Another Blog That Tracks Progress of a Real Modern Prefab Project - ModHampton

Just a quick post to point out a really interesting blog that my friend Justin over at materialicio.us discovered: ModHampton. This is definitely right our up alley here at Future House Now.




YUM!!! Check it out! That kitchen is done in absolutely my favorite color!!!




See tons more pics on the ModHampton site. This sweet modern prefab from Wieler (a luscious "Rapson Greenbelt 2" model) is almost done, so hurry over. You'll see all that it took to bring it to be, and soon see the completed project. Of course, it's always great to learn from the trials and tribulations of others. Whether you're planning your own project and want to learn from the experiences of others, of if you just want to live vicariously through them, this is a good one for you!

Via materialicio.us

Image credit - ModHampton site.

Futuristic Kitchen Module from Gorenje Ora-ito

This is certainly interesting. It looks like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I like it!



It's a futuristic, modular kitchen by European appliance giant, Gorenje, designed by Frenchman Ora Ito, the "Enfant terrible of Industrial Design." I love that. Somebody told me I was "subversive" once, and to this day that was the highest compliment I have ever been paid. I only wish I could be more subversive every day.

I like the inspiration:

"Simplexity. Simple and complex. With unnecessary surplus taken away, only the clean design lines remain. The simple design that surrounds us is the futuristic kitchen today and tomorrow. Simple clean lines mirror design for the future when vision becomes reality."

Via Materialicio.us

Image credit - Gorenje site