Farmhouse Modern

I found this article on A Daily Dose of Architecture, referencing a competition sponsored by MOMA in New York City.

Lawrence Saas, one of the Five architects building a project for the competition is an Associate Professor at MIT. For his submission, Mr. Saas is exploring “Materialization.” Mr. Saas describes Materialization in a blog maintained for the show:

We materialize designs in the Design Lab as a collection of smaller parts cut by precision machinery, which are then assembled by hand. The theory is defined as materialization (Sass 2005). The process starts with the generation of a compliable CAD model, used to measure CAD/CAM cutting for manufacture and to guide hand-assembled parts. We expect that hand assembly will be replaced by robotic assembly.

The process imagines creating a set of plywood components precisely fabricated by a robot to create a basic structure onto which ornament can be applied. The computer controlled manufacturing process creates absolutely accurate and consistent parts which are assembled by carpenters on site. The promise of this process is a hybrid prefab / site assembled home where the costs of the basic building unit are minimized. If it plays out this way, the home would be given an individual identity by the elements that are not part of the prefab structure.

My hope is that this frees up enough budget for craftsmanship and artistic expression, and that it does not simply increase the value of the land so that the total price rises again to what the market will bear, shutting craftsmen further out of homebuilding and eliminating high-pride jobs.