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Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
1
Everett E Henderson Jr 2010-04-20 Professor Charlie Hailey
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
This paper discusses existing houses and their value, with attention to prefabricated systems and a short overview of prefabrication. A case study will be used to show how tuning can be applied to existing structures in order to better suit the current occupants and how prefabrication can assist in the process of retuning.
Existing houses are some of the most sustainable structures because resources have already been used to create the house. They may have a sound structure yet still be lacking in several ways. A concern with many existing houses is that they may not have been thoughtfully designed to be flexible and many of the programmed spaces are now obsolete and no longer meet the needs of the current occupants. Many houses that were once the idealization of the American dream were designed for a program that may no longer be valid.
Prefabrication in construction is defined as using components not assembled on site. Most houses constructed today have prefabricated components to some degree. Prefabricated techniques range from small components such as brick and shingles to larger components such as the bathtub and sink; however prefabrication could play an even larger role as entire walls and assemblies can be constructed off site to be assembled in factories. Prefabrication can offer advantages with respect to sustainability, economy and still remain site-specific. Prefabrication as an off-site construction in a factory setting allows for thoughtful and precise use of materials with little waste or weather delays in the manufacturing of the components.
Tuning a space can be the simple function of controlling amounts of light, views, sounds and smells. Tuning also has the ability to create a new occupiable condition, redirect traffic flow patterns, enclose more or less space, create conditioned spaces and create flexible multifunctional spaces. Tuning of the house with its new and existing spaces involves making decisions as to what needs to be expressed. Rethinking the whole rather than just adding to the building allows for sensitive tuning of the interior to the exterior as a valid solution to creating insightful spaces. Rather than destroy the structure entirely, the designer should rethink the existing spaces and improve them for immediate and future use. The Hexenhaus (Witch House) renovation is an excellent example of retuning an
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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existing house. Alison and Peter Smithson worked with Axel Bruchhuser to redefine the spaces of the house. The use of simple prefabricated components was used to modify the existing house to be better suited for its occupants.
Image: Moving Hand based on Leonardos technique. (pencil on paper) Everett E Henderson Jr 1992
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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The Great American Dream House
There is the potential today for new ways of thinking about design and construction
that did not exist sixty years ago. For example, sixty years ago a houses life was not
considered beyond its original design. The house was designed to sell the new American
culture with specific criteria relating to the American Dream. The dream that was being sold
was, in a sense, the naming of spaces. There was a focus to remove women from the
factories and get them back into their homes by providing new updated kitchens and all new
appliances. Men were also given a new space called a garage (Wright, G. 2005). This
tailoring of spaces was extruded from an apparent agenda that would sell the idea of the
dream house. Today there exists technology not imagined when houses were constructed in
the middle of the 20th century. This new technology can have spatial implications.
Prefabricated housing technology in particular now has the potential to get closer to the The
Great American Dream House (Nichols 2006).
The Dream House of the 1940s 1960s was sold as an idea rather than just bricks
and mortar. Leisurama is a good example of this marketing. President Nixon was promoting
the idea of the new kitchen as something that every American had available to them. Nixon
and Khurushchev battle it out at the 1959 American Exhibition in Moscow. This exchange is
commonly known as the "Kitchen Debate" (http://www.leisurama.info/multimedia.html). The
Leisurama house was sold by Macys department stores. It was marketed as a summer home
and the appliances, furniture, silverware and toothbrushes all were part of the inclusive
package. Many of these part time summer homes have been remodeled and added to due to
the fact that they are now being used as full time homes. (Leisurama, Figure 1). Many
houses of the era have been reworked to meet the needs of the new owner. Sadly many
other houses of the 1940s and 1960s have been destroyed to build newer houses.
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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(Figure 1)
Prefabrication as a new tool, again
Prefabrication has been used in some form or fashion for well over 100 years. Bricks,
doors, and window assemblies would fall into the simplest forms of prefabrication. These
components were likely made off site and imported to the site to be installed. If this concept is
taken to the next level, larger units such as wall assemblies and whole bathroom modules for
example, can speed construction as well as precision. In 1944 it was stated that Any unit or
combination of units manufactured or cut to size before being brought to the building site
can, in a literal sense, be called prefabrication. As well as Prefabrication in the truly
industrialized sense is a very special approach to the problem of the "house"-an approach
made possible NOW, for the first time, when industry, research and material exist in the right
relationship to one another, making possible on intelligent application of these resources to
the needs of housing. (Arts and Architecture 1944, 29)
Architects in the United States since the early 1900s have been interested in the idea
of the prefabricated house (Herbert 1984) (Bergdoll 2008). Designers (to no avail) have
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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proposed many different systems. Prefabrication to this day involves only new construction,
new houses from scratch. Prefabricated building systems are many. These systems range
from heavy pre-cast concrete systems, like the ubiquitous parking garage, to the lightweight
structural insulated panel systems. Some prefabricated systems today have the additional
design component of disassembly for reuse or recycling, which also allows for ease of repair
of components (Sobek 2002).
New ways of thinking about architecture involve, not our evolved minds, but rather the
new tools that have been developed over this short amount of industrialized time as well as
the new goals of sustainability about how to connect materials and form spaces. In the past,
prefabrication was used, but it was thought of as an end product to create a house in its
entirety (Graff 1947)(Arts & Architecture 1944)(Gilbert 1984). The tools today can include the
use of computers and the ability to illustrate new spaces before they are constructed.
Building Information Modeling for example (BIM) allows for not just an illustration of the
house, but also for the energy modeling, materials specified, as well as coordination between
the construction disciplines. Prefabrication today in the beginning of the 21st century offers
site specific design for off site construction with these new tools (Anderson 2007). The
artist, craftsman and designer now has the potential to be close to the tools they are using
(Wright 1901).
The Craftsman as Tuning Device
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. (Maslow)
Unless we know the tools, we cannot possibly control them nor begin to sense the limits and possibilities out of which solutions can emerge. (Robertson 1972).
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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I will venture to say, from personal experience, that not one artist in a hundred has taken pains to thus educate himself. I will go further to say what I believe to be true, that not one educational institution in America has as yet attempted to forge the connecting link between science and art by training the artist to his actual tools, or, by a process of nature-study that develops in him power of independent thought, fitting him to use them properly. (Wright, F.L. 1901, 89).
A tool can be seen as a physical tool as well as a process of thought. Tuning the
capability of using a tool in conjunction with the thought process with very calculated
outcomes. A carpenter that has years of experience with a hammer will be able to understand
and see how materials will be affected with the use of the hammer on different nails and
different woods; more so than a novice. Once the tool and the thought have been used in
sync, then the craftsman is able to provide a continuous feedback loop. This means that they
are able to be more precise with respect to the outcome of the actual product. The end
product can then be closer to the craftsmans wishes.
The new craftsman of the 21st century needs to be in control of their tools. The closer
the craftsman gets to their tool(s) in understanding, the more they will be able to control the
end product. If a disconnect exists between the craftsman and the tool, then the end product
suffers as well as the spirit of the craftsman. (Sennett 2008). The perception of beauty can be
directly related to the craftsman and how in-tune they are with their tools. If the craftsman
controls the tools they have, they can express more correctly what they are trying to state
(Yanagi 1972).
Peter and Alison Smithson thought in terms of multifunctional spaces in their work.
They referred to this idea as conglomerate ordering. Conglomerate ordering is to build it
like a farmer when hes making a decision - well if I have to do all that work, I also want it to
do that and that and that. Everything should have multiple uses. (Smithson, 48)
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The craftsman, to have more control over the end product, must, if not create his or
her tools, at least completely understand the tool they are using. Letting the tool control the
end product exist in almost every level of life; for example all too often PowerPoint
presentations almost always look like a presentation created by that specific tool, regardless
of the information that is trying to be delivered. If the program hinders the point that the
presenter needs to get across to the audience, then the program / tool may need to be
reconsidered.
Case Study Illustration
Many houses built in the 1940s to the 1960s were built to a specific program of named
spaces and specific sizes. There is potential to re-tune these older structures with
prefabrication techniques using computer modeling to extend the life of older houses and
make viable and multifunctional once again. These older houses can become a canvas on
which new ideas about spaces and living can be retuned.
The house Hexenhaus (Witch House) for Axel Bruchhuser in Bad Karlshafen,
Hessen, Germany built 1986-2002 and designed by Alison and Peter Smithson will be used
as the case study (refer to Figure 2). The project was not designed specifically as a
prefabricated structure retrofit, but it is definitely a good example of the idea of delicate
tuning of space with the use of off site construction. While this house is not an American
house as described in the Great American Dream House section mentioned previously, I
believe it has potential to shed light on how to view and retune these houses.
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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(Figure 2, Stcha 2010)
The gray section of the model in Figure 3 shows the existing house structure, while the
light colored wood shows the intervention within the existing house. The intervention has
been attached to the house to enclose more living space. At the ground level from the
exterior, the existing houses structure has been obscured and the new entries have been
pushed further out. Alison and Peter Smithson made multiple additions to the house and its
surrounding property. This paper focuses on the addition that attaches directly to the house.
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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(Figure 3, Stcha 2010)
Retuning can involve many needs and wants from new owners. Examples of tuning
can include expressing or concealing, focusing or blurring, restricting or exposing and
filtering. The things that can be tuned are, for example: light, sound, smell, air and view.
Analyzing what has been done on the Hexenhaus, it is clear that the views have been
changed to focus on specific areas, light is now filtered through a series of prefabricated
furniture-quality wood frames that hold insulated glazing and newly conditioned space has
been provided by pushing the living space to the exterior of the house (Figure 4). Figure 5
shows the new space that has been enclosed (in yellow), while the new views (in red) are
extended past where the previous window and door enclosures were previously located.
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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(Figure 4, Stcha 2010)
(Figure 5, Henderson 2010)
Conclusion
Since existing houses are some of the most sustainable structures because resources
have already been depleted to create the house, prefabrication offers a way to integrate the
past with the present with the craftsman and the sensitive use of materials.
Re-tuning existing houses with prefabrication
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