The Globe and Mail

Now heading into its second century, the history of architecturally savvy prefabricated housing stands at an interesting crossroads. Never before have so many architects and designers been spending sleepless nights and earnest days on schemes for the perfect prefab house. The results of this labour, as we find them posted on numerous websites and published in magazines, are usually cool and chic, often imaginative, and occasionally sensational. Despite their sophisticated appeal, however, even the best contemporary prefab designs have found no North American market large enough to make their industrialized production economical. Perhaps such a market will never materialize, and mass-produced, intelligent prefab housing will continue to be what it has been for the past 100 years: a day dream that never gets off the drawing board, or much beyond a prototype, and a way for architects to recall the socially progressive traditions of their art.