Prefabrication experiments - 34 - Carl Koch's Techbuilt house

Walter Gropius’ influence on the development of modernism in the United States was extensive. Gropius’ work at the German Bauhaus, his early 20^th century manifestos on industrialized building and his contribution to education of young architects at Harvard helped establish a specifically American mid-century modern architecture. His assessment of the need for variability and adaptability suggested prefabrication as a strategy to provide for architecturally variable systems. The concept of a kit-of-standardized parts informed Gropius’ attitude toward prefabrication. The architect should not only reflect on the architectural composition but also on the process of facilitating construction and individualized building. His theories tried to link values of industry and humanism.

The approach of a coordinated system of parts relating to the whole building scheme was already prevalent in research and Gropius’s experiments participated in furthering Albert Farwell Bemis’ theories of modular coordination. This confluence of concepts, principles and explorations was clearly evident in many experiments of the era and in traditional kit houses going back to the Christof and Unmack German wood systems. The kit of parts could also be traced to the British Dorlonco or Weir houses. These steel component-based housing systems leveraged traditional post and beam construction along with lighter steel and new assembly techniques toward a coordinated building organization.

The influence of Gropius’ theories, and by extension his knowledge of the post and beam German systems, was evident in the work of Carl Koch. Koch studied under Gropius at Harvard and proposed housing systems articulated to similar values. Koch’s ideal of affordable, flexible and adaptable housing was directly motivated by Gropius’ early manifestoes. Koch’s preliminary work on the Acorn house evolved into his most ambitious experiment in prefabrication. He developed a system that combined the open plan made possible by post and beam with the ease of assembly of stressed skin panel envelope. The Techbuilt house was based on the modular coordination of structure and skin. The spatial openness, the optimization of ground to roof plane liveable space and the extending roof cantilevers were elements of the modernist spirit included in the Techbuilt kit. The most innovative design element of the house was Koch’s conceptualization of a system that could be easily modified, adapted or dismantled and reassembled on a different site. Housing, in his view, would need to be a flexible and variable reflection of the evolving modern world. 

 

TECHBUILT catalogue rendering