By now, the need to build numerous apartments within a short space of time is evident owing to the rapid increase in the number of immigrants and refugees in Europe. Affordable and fast accommodation has always been a latent issue, but now it has become apparent and needs to be addressed. Concrete solutions are sought after by architects.
Although containers offer temporary accommodation, modular buildings are intended to achieve long-term solutions. Both are united by an image problem, which is why only few people have hitherto looked intensively into their potential. Given the current situation, DOM publishers is now putting forward a compilation of these buildings with the Construction and Design Manual: Container and Modular Buildings. International design teams present twenty-five exemplary projects where the primary focus is on apartments, although kindergartens, schools and multifunctional premises are also included. The projects oscillate between the twin poles of unconventional developments and life-saving shelters - from eccentric experiments to realised projects. In addition to makeshift accommodation or outpatient medical stations which offer a response to social problems and space shortages, a few playful follies also appear, since notions bordering on the absurd may also lead to workable solutions.
Bold and unconventional ideas are called for if the intention is to steer the debate on affordable and fast accommodation in a new direction offering high-quality solutions. The book thus provides plenty of inspirational material. It shows what possibilities are open to avoid the mistakes of the past (such as unattractive urban spaces or the segregating effects of social mass housing, whereby conflicts are exacerbated rather than resolved) and demonstrates how the tarnished image of prefabricated construction can be overhauled with creative imagination and diligence in terms of planning.publiarq.com