Prefabrication Matters (a+u 669)
Shinkenchiku-shan 2026
€28,00
The June issue of a+u explores prefabrication. Architecture and construction are facing increasingly severe challenges – rising building costs, the need for environmental load countermeasures, a shortage of engineers and laborers, and the separation of design and construction. Meanwhile, the world’s population is growing every year, and the housing supply remains insufficient. In the pursuit of solutions, this issue focuses on the practices of 4 groups who are experimenting with prefabrication: SUMMARY (Portugal), ELEMENTAL (Chile), Ensamble Studio (Spain), and People’s Architecture Office (China/United States). SUMMARY focuses on prefabrication as the foundation for realizing designs that use bio-based materials and are prepared for disassembly. ELEMENTAL attempts to construct basic units made of biochar concrete, enabling people to build structures themselves. People’s Architecture Office regenerates vacant houses – which are difficult to intervene in –by combining prefabrication and renovation. Ensamble Studio promotes design-build at “Ensamble Fabrica,” a laboratory and manufacturing plant where design and construction intersect. What these innovators share is the belief that architecture is not only realized in the finished building; it is also the design of the process itself. Each of the initiatives documented here reflects the potential for prefabrication to address the changing needs of both architecture and the people it serves.
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