While not necessarily being directly associated to prefabricated building design, and certainly not indicative of the direction that I think this project should head in, I thought that this project was a relevant discussion point, considering that our project will essentially involve a similar way of thinking (designing in one place, building in another).
This project is to re-house people who were displaced from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Basically, an architect is asked to design an inexpensive, efficiently constructed house. Drawings are then sent to builders in New Orleans who then construct their interpretation of the drawings.
I'm unsure of the level of documentation that was sent to the builders, but it seems that the final product is not quite what was proposed...
The Shigeru Ban house illustrates this pretty well.
[click to enlarge]
Another architect involved is Frank Gehry. The constructed interpretation of one of his designs from largely unskilled builders should be interesting, but the main point here is that was is intended may not become reality, it may even be so far removed from it that the house subtracts some important design elements. If I were to identify the main problem, it seems that the builders were not completely familiar .
The criticism that I've read of this project predominantly concentrates on workmanship, and aesthetics. What I would like to extrapolate from this is the issue of a designed intent for a building, and constructed reality, particularly within the topic of prefabricated, adaptable buildings. This project might only be vaguely related to ours but, for me, it initiates some thinking about adaptability.
Perhaps a simple design is the answer, or thorough research into vernacular construction technologies given that the people who will construct the project in Timor may not be knowledgeable about building.
One thing that could be considered is asking what adaptability actually means. Does it mean unrestricted change by the end user, or restricted adaptability by design? Good prefabricated design could mean that the architect eliminates any ambiguity in what they intend through things like 'IKEA' type joinery etc., where potential changes to the building are fairly contrived ( or it might not). This is the main issue to arise from studying this exemplar.
Just a quick journal entry to start thinking about the project...
links:
http://lifewithoutbuildings.net/2009/07/the-making-of-a-make-it-right-house.html
http://thisisadesignblog.com/2009/06/10/house-make-it-right/
