Context and setting in architecture habitually refer in some way to a site, a staging area, or a physical, geopolitical place where an edifice is to be moored. This concept implies a singular way of anchoring and differentiates a building from generic commodities because it must address a plurality of contextual factors. Industrialized building systems’ barriers are often discussed with singular anchoring in mind as systems must combine the generic (building as a commodity) with the non-generic (site specificity).
As globalization and information technology reaffirm industrializations basic principles of making quality products affordable and accessible, construction's industrialisation is once more being touted as a way to reform construction, with one major difference from what was the basic value proposition in the past. If industrial driven proprietary models could characterize twentieth century experiments or one-off architectural designed prototypes, a new generation of architects is tackling this problem with an approach to bridge the two fields. Whether inspired by open-source and crowd sourced business models a shareable architecture is taking hold based on principles being applied through DfMA (design for manufacturing and assembly) principles in parallel industries. This new setting for architectural production based on industrialized systems is platform based. Nuanced products, models, types can be created from a controlled set of modular components similarly to how a programmer defines an application from predetermined and shared language and syntaxes.
While certainly not unique within this space, 369 Pattern Buildings is the work of a cooperative of professionals and academics proposing a modular platform of timber volumes applicable to varied building types. The basic modular component is analogous to an ISO container arranged with timber edges and bottom and top timber ribbed plates that are assembled with steel corner or vertex connectors. The modular unit can be stacked and juxtaposed to create a plurality of organisations. Facade elements, demising wall elements, mechanical as well as plumbing systems can be designed and fabricated according to underlining modular dimensions to easily fit within the system. While the system remains marginally applied, its setting is truly contemporary as it allows anyone to interact, download and iterate components into a personal architectural product adaptable to any site.
Pattern Building modular components
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