Abitazioni prefabbricate: verso un archetipo. Una rassegna di soluzioni contemporanee, Prefab house: towards an archetype. A review of contemporary solutions

This review aims to answer a seemingly simple yet complex question: what are the current trends in prefab housing? The authors analyse a series of solutions in regard to their scope, the figurative and functional aspects and the constructive strategies employed to reach a comfortable and sustainable solution. Said study shows how the current solutions aim to offer high standards of comfort with a design deeply informed by measures to reduce the environmental impact of both their construction and life on site, painting a picture remarkably distant from their long lost “cousins” employed in the aftermath of WWII all across Europe, or the “little boxes on the hillside” that Malvina Reynolds sang about describing the stereotypical north American suburb. The paper ends defining an archetypical contemporary prefab house, a house that is designed to stay on site on the medium-term, it’s made of cross laminated timber, deployed using the volumetric system, employs recycled or recyclable materials for finishing and furnishing and has an integrated photovoltaic system on the roof.