Prefabrication experiments - 76 - Shigeru Ban's Paper Log Houses

Throughout history, war, natural disasters and political uncertainty have all caused significant needs for temporary housing. The displacement of large populations for economic reasons such as wartime work camps or the need to quickly restore shelter in difficult conditions encouraged the development of mobile housing systems.  In architecture, these turbulent conditions seem to create productive conditions to explore and innovate. Alavar Aalto’s emergency shelters, Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Deployment Units or Herbert Yates’ plydom houses speak to an illustrious body of architectural work and knowledge that stemmed from hardship and contributed to forging modern architecture's social origins.

The work of Shigeru Ban displays this modern heritage of invention through need. Shigeru Ban is a Japanese born architect who studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and Cooper Union in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  His interest in housing systems was inspired by his modernist ingrained education and a reverence for John Hejduk’s experimental houses. Moreover his consideration of relatively cheap, ready made and raw materials informed his designs for simple, quickly assembled post disaster dwellings. 

His use of vertical cardboard struts for the Paper Log Houses showcased the paper tubing as a modestly transformed and manufactured material characterized by its low embodied energy and its versatility. The 16 meter square floor area shelter relates Ban’s design to other small house experiments such as the Daiwa midget house in Japan or the Australian iron houses. Both strived to offer significant shelter swiftly with relatively new production methods.

Designed for disaster relief following the earthquake in Kobe in 1995, the paper log houses displayed new methodologies, which were then applied to other functions. Shigeru Ban’s paper house, paper church and Rwandan emergency shelters employed similar cardboard struts sealed to resist inclement weather. Waterproofing films, polyurethane and acrylic paints can be used to improve cardboard’s material properties, allowing it to become a durable and low cost option for construction. The transient nature of disaster dwelling lends itself to this type of material investigation. Along with his paper log prototypes, his other experiments such as the furniture houses attempt to rationalize living spaces, offer functional agility and express simple and straightforward construction techniques. 

Paper Log Houses

Prefabrication experiments - 75 - Capsules, pods and vertical dwelling clusters

The icons of prefabricated architecture explored and projected by the European avant-garde in the early part of the twentieth century arose from the need for quality mass housing in a burgeoning industrialized world. From Walter Gropius to Le Corbusier to Jean Prouvé and to their subsequent lineages in Europe and America, the industrialization of housing established a compelling social program for architecture.

The early avant-garde prototypes based on industrial processes fuelled architecture’s esteem of factory efficiency. War and postwar economies propelled prefabrication, particularly in wartime materials in order to stimulate slowing postwar material use. Although highly supported, producing architecture like a Ford or a Toyota never came to fruition and evolved into research rather than streamlined architectural production. Pascal Haussermann’s experiments in fibreglass, Matti Suuronen’s Futuro or Ventura houses and even Richard Rogers Zip House elucidate this peripheral course for prefabrication. Rondo housing by Casoni and Casoni or the patented building construction by Dalgliesh John D Jr and Kisner Clinton E in the early 1970’s further exemplify architecture’s shift from modernism’s agenda.

Post-modern visions underscored an imminent hypermobile architecture of transposable pod clusters and aggregations. As polymer chemistry progressed these types of product oriented building systems became more prevalent. Glass reinforced plastic was the main material constituent of the pod aesthetic. Socially, demographic shifts, new modes of transportation and the space race supported the representation of agile, adaptable and flexible future urban systems. The capsule epitomized a future where the social fabric commanded an interchangeable architecture. Casoni and Casoni’s circular pods in a towering megastructure completely eliminated any individualization, as each capsule was identical to its neighbour’s.

As we consider 75 in our 100 project review we look back to certain catalytic agents: war, urbanisation, baby boom and industrialisation. All drew attention to prefabrication as a way of offering more for less. This ideal substantiated modernity both in architecture and in building culture. 75 projects seem far to few to describe the plethora of experiments that brought industry and architects together. As we look at today’s production we can certainly hypothesize that the 20^th century’s experiments leave few avenues for originality but a large spectrum for innovation. In the next 25 experiments we will examine the current state of prefabrication and its current directions.

Left: Building construction patent drawing - Right : Casoni and Casoni's rondo housing

Prefabrication experiments - 74 - Vic Hallam ltd.'s sectional kitchen unit

The integrated manufacturer capable of producing assorted components for building’s varying scales and needs was a benefit of broadening factory production and equipment. In order to increase their capacity and relevance, creative industrialists took advantage of housing shortages, military contracts, and the general change in demographics from the turn of the 20^th century to the post-war construction booms. The demand for more houses, schools, and buildings, including factories to supply the burgeoning commodity economy, fuelled the industrial progress. Companies that contracted with governments benefited from steady contracts and the exchange of knowledge from military to civilian use. Governments subsidized and supported the commercial drive to build more for less.

Vic Hallam ltd best known for the simple timber structures it provided for classrooms and schools, the Derwent building system, exemplifies this pivotal link between military contracts, housing shortages and post-war construction booms.  The timber post and plywood box beam system braced by rigid tongue and groove boards was infilled with single pane glass. Along with the school systems, the company contracted with the military for various timber shelters, rooms and ammunition boxes. The school systems were planned for speed of assembly and unfortunately not for the rigours of time as the envelope was scarcely insulated and wrought with thermal bridges. The company’s business model was based on offering different products for construction from a central workshop. Along with the school system, the company marketed a wood framed bungalow and looking to diversity in the late 1960s advertised a fully integrated kitchen unit.

The wall kitchen unit included base cabinets, high storage units and counter cabinets with or without the kitchen sink. The units were manufactured and shipped on site as a complete sub-system that could be added to any building type whether prefabricated or not. The kitchen units were modularly designed to fit multiple kitchen plan designs. Analogous to today’s Ikea kitchen, the Vic Hallam kitchen units were sold as sectional modules, each cabinet representing a combinable unit. The kitchen was marketed in three different wood finishes and in various lengths coordinated and fabricated to order. The company’s wood building know-how showcased the diversity and versatility of wood products as well as its potential industrialisation.

A Vic Hallam Ltd kitchen unit

Prefabrication experiments - 73 - GSK «open» building systems in Japan

Industrialized building systems and prefabricated building experiments found their stride during the early 20th century. Their conceptual roots were meshed with those of mass manufacturing. Their early proprietary nature limited the streamlining of new building knowledge and furthermore confined their use. During the peak of worldwide housing shortages many building systems developed as closed and self-directed systems, as was the case for most mass-manufactured commodities.

Architecture and building culture in general progress through an open exchange of ideas. Moreover, buildings are by definition open systems requiring many retrofitting phases and strategies throughout their service lives. Closed, patented or highly specialized industrial productions have been proven less adaptable over time. Replacement parts, pieces or alterations are contingent to the closed system’s agility, continuous production and economic success. During the second half of the 20^th century, the required programmatic flexibility of buildings inspired a more open approach to building systems: coordinated sub-systems based on dimensionally standardized components, parts and products toward their straightforward assembly.

In Japan the «GSK» building systems for educational buildings typified the idea of dimensional and systemic coordination and explored an «open source» cross-pollination of building systems. Innovative and flexible teaching required more flexible schools.  Initiated by RIEF (The Research Institute for Educational Facilities) in 1971, the process was founded on similar experiments undertaken in Great Britain (CLASP) and the United States (SCSD) when those countries confronted their own demographic demands for educational resources.

The RIEF instituted performance based specifications for industrial proposals providing elements for eight building systems: structure, envelope, roof, interior walls, ceiling/lighting, finishes, mechanical and electrical. The specifications were technically sound in their requirements with quick, easy, and coordinated assembly highlighting their overall methodology. The specifications demanded a simple but rigorous planning grid of 900 x 900 x 900mm onto which room sizes, heights and systems could be organized. The grid increased efficiency. Modern systems of construction shared and still share this ideal of dimensional modularity. Each company’s proposal was cross- evaluated, recorded, categorized and became the basis for a pilot school project that combined specific submissions toward the GSK building system. The RIEF’s process for GSK exemplifies the search of an open source architectural language for variable and varying building types. 

Prefab concrete panel wall sub-assembly (example)