Prefabrication experiments - 335 - House 19 mobile studio

Mobile homes or manufactured dwellings, epitomized by early singlewides effectively applied mass production theory to housing. This segment of factory production has been both hailed when discussed in terms of democratization of affordable dwellings and ostracized as poorly designed, built and rot with social difficulties. 

 

The mobile home is particularly interesting as it conceptually links two rival fields and conceptualizations: it strives to be at once a commodity with no particular anchorage and yet function as a dwelling with all the human and social implications of domestic architecture. In the history of prefab, projects that have been able to be successfully applied and appreciated simultaneously in both fields (architecture and manufactured housing) are a rarity. Most are specifically commercial, while others are prototypes of architectural creativity.

 

An example of mobile home principles applied by architects, House 19 designed by Dutch firm Korteknie Stuhlmacher architects in 2003, acts as a moveable studio for resident artists to live and work in the city of Utrecht. Rigorous container dimensions outline a robust and weathertight mass timber structural envelope. The «black box» is structured by cross laminated timber panels reinforced and braced by steel frames. The composite sandwich envelope panels are layered with insulation, weatherproofing, and cladding. 18m long, 4m high and 3.2 m wide, the studio adheres to transport restrictions. A centrally located service core contains all required cooking and hygiene functions and separates night from living spaces. Operable drawbridge elements deploy rich interior and exterior connections not usually associated with manufactured transportable houses. Further exploring these connections, two large, suspended panel doors in the living room and one aligned with the service core create dynamic thresholds.

 

Contrary to conventional mobile homes or container houses these operable spatial components along with a strategically placed vertical skylight over a dining area gives this linear volume an especially airy feel. Two additional small skylights illuminate the bedroom and living room. A large 19 painted on the side of the box reinforces a type of commodification; the unit number intimates a production lot, part of a much larger batch of mobile studios. 

House 19 - mobile artist studio