| Dockable
Dwelling Modular House |
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| This project
proposes to finally inject the notion of efficiency into the design and
construction of affordable houses, in order to allow a low, fixed budget
to pay for more. It is a factory-assembled modular system that "couples"
the components of a house as easily as the middle cars of a train. Visiting
a construction site reveals both the beauty of hands on craftsmanship and
its inefficiency. Bricks, stones, mortar, wood joists, posts, tiles, pipes,
nails, they all represent areas where a big portion of a small budget is
allocated. given the low-tech nature of these trades, the technological
revolution is of little or no help. As technology fueled, assembly-lined
robotics and qualified labor bring down the price of highly sophisticated,
exquisitely designed items [such as phones, computers, cars] the construction
of houses is still at the mercy of the weather. This was unavoidable in
the past for any building, and it is still unavoidable now for buildings
over a certain size. The critical size that obstructs the shipment of high-tech
factory assembled buildings, or building modules, is set by the infrastructure
needed to transport them. houses are below that critical size. This means
that the obstacle that keeps affordable house design and production from
joining all the other industries in benefiting from the developments brought
about by the technological revolution is not of a physical nature. Borrowing NASA's approach to "space station modular docking", where minimizing space walking time is critical, this project proposes a collection of modules to be fully built in factory with almost no on-site assembly required: level up a portion of the site, plug the modules together and leave. Regarding the energy efficiency of these houses, the use of technology and in-factory assembly can merge the skinning of the modules with the installation of Solar energy collecting systems,resulting in a single photovoltaic insulating membrane. |
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