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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI _____________ , 20 _____ I,______________________________________________, hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: ________________________________________________ in: ________________________________________________ It is entitled: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Approved by: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ Prefabricating Home A Compelling Case for Quality in Manufactured Housing A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture A presentation of research conducted in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. May, 2003 by Matthew A. Spangler Bachelor of Science in Architecture, University of Cincinnati, 2001 Committee: Barry Stedman, Ph.D., Chair Michael McInturf, AIA David Edelman, Ph.D. Abstract Statement of Purpose The mobile home evolved as a low-cost alternative to site-built housing from the fusion of prefabricated housing systems and travel trailers. Low-income families adopted it as a viable form of affordable home ownership, and for several decades manufactured housing remained dedicated to this market. Twenty years ago the design began to turn toward the middle classes, styling itself after the ideal suburban home—in spatial configuration, materiality, and price. Manufactured housing strayed from the benefits of prefabrication and became a factory-built image of the suburban community, leaving an entire socioeconomic class without suitable housing alternatives. Design through modular prefabrication offers the potential for a low-cost housing system that can flex to the specific needs of nearly any user or site condition. Only by rediscovering the aesthetic, spatial, and economic benefits of systems design and modular construction will manufactured housing offer an alternative for those who can afford little else. Copyright Limitations of Use This thesis is © Copyright Matthew Alan Spangler 2003, Some Rights Reserved. This scholarly work is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Architecture. All works cited copyright their respective owners, all rights reserved. This work may be retransmitted with attribution for personal use, non-commercial use, per the Creative Commons License, which may be found online at: http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/ The license reads, in part: Attribution: The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. In return, licensees must give the original author credit. Noncommercial: The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. In return, licensees may not use the work for commercial purposes -- unless they get the licensor’s permission. Share Alike: The licensor permits others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the one that governs the licensor’s work. Acknowledgements For my wife, Amanda, and my family, who have sacrificed selflessly for my academic pursuits. My thanks as well for the guidance provided throughout this project by the members of my thesis committee. This investigation is dedicated to the lifelong residents of mobile homes who find their world of opportunities quickly shrinking around them. Contents Contents 1 Referenced Images 3 Introduction Overview 7 Thesis Propositions Project Foundations 8 Manufactured Housing 9 The People 11 History Origins of Manufactured Housing 16 Prefabrication Emerges 16 The Rise of Mobility 20 Convergence 22 Moving Beyond 25 Precedent Introduction to Precedents 28 Modular Housing Precedents Corbusier – Pessac 30 Safdie – Habitat ’67 32 KFN Systems – SU-SI and FRED 34 Manufactured Housing 36 Theory Typology and Manufactured Housing Typology in Culture 38 Typology and Home 40 Infiltration of Image 41 Restoring Integrity 43 Systems of Modularity and Production Production Principles 45 Modularity in Production 46 Joints in the System 51 Ground Rules for Production 51 Economics of Modularity 53 Conclusions 54 Conceptual System Analysis Introduction to System Models 56 Conceptual System Models Factory-Direct Module 57 DOM-INO Module 58 Unitized Component Module 59 Kit of Parts 60 Project Program Element Inventory 61 The Entry / Gathering Space 61 The Family Room 63 The Kitchen 64 1 The Bedroom 66 The Bathroom 67 The Storage Space 69 The Utility Space 70 The Circulation Space 71 Site The Trailer Park 73 Selection and Analysis 75 Design Enclosure System Design Schematics 84 Structural Insulated Panels 86 System Design 87 Conclusions Reflections 94 Annotated List of Works Consulted 95 2 Referenced Images Following are the image credits for the illustrations utilized in this document. Photographer and publication source are listed where appropriate and available. Abbreviated citations appear in full in section “Annotated List of Works Consulted” at the end of the document. Introduction Figure 1. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 92. Figure 2. From Herbert, The Dream of the Factory-Made House, 322. Figure 3. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 99. Figure 4. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, title page. Figure 5. Photograph by author. Figure 6. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 0. Figure 7. From Hart, Rhodes, and Morgan, The Unknown World of the Mobile Home, 24. Figure 8. Photograph by author. Figure 9. Photograph by author. Figure 10. Photograph by author. Figure 11. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 40. Figure 12. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 21. Figure 13. Photograph by author. Figure 14. Photograph by author. Figure 15. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 77. Figure 16. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 43. Figure 17. Carol Burch-Brown. From Burch-Brown and Rigsbee, Trailers, 22. Figure 18. Photograph by author. History Figure 1. From Transportable Environments. ed. Robert Kronenburg. New York: Routledge, 1998. Image from page 178. Figure 2. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 14. Figure 3. From Kronenburg, Houses in Motion, 45. Figure 4. From Transportable Environments. ed. Robert Kronenburg. New York: Routledge, 1998. Image from page 58. Figure 5. From Sergeant, John. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses. New York: Watson Guptill Publications, 1984. Image from page 17. Figure 6. From Sergeant, John. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses. New York: Watson Guptill Publications, 1984. Image from page 18. Figure 7. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 20. Figure 8. From Glancey, 20th Century Architecture, 184. Figure 9. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 26. Figure 10. From Glancey, 20th Century Architecture, 225. Figure 11. From Kronenburg, Houses in Motion, 18. Figure 12. From Kronenburg, Houses in Motion, 80. Figure 13. From Kronenburg, Houses in Motion, 81. Figure 14. From Burkhart and Hunt, Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht, 75. Figure 15. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 65. Figure 16. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 110. Figure 17. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 132. Figure 18. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 137. 3 Figure 19. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 146. Figure 20. From Wallis, Wheel Estate: The Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, 147. Figure 21. From Siegal, Mobile: The Art of Portable Architecture, 111. Figure 22. From Siegal, Mobile: The Art of Portable Architecture, 113. Figure 23. From Siegal, Mobile: The Art of Portable Architecture, 101. Figure 24. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 56. Figure 25. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 90. Precedent Figure 1. From McKean, Crystal Palace: Joseph Paxton and Charles Fox, 10. Figure 2. From McKean, Crystal Palace: Joseph Paxton and Charles Fox, 11. Figure 3. From McKean, Crystal Palace: Joseph Paxton and Charles Fox, 50. Figure 4. From Ferrand, Feugas, and Veyret, Le Corbusier: Les Quartiers Modernes Fruges, 14. Figure 5. From www.serial-design.com/designers/quartiers.htm, Serial-Design.com, 2001, image lc96. Figure 6. From www.arch.columbia.edu/DDL/cad/A4535/S01cad/class_notes/images/domino.jpg, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning, and Preservation, image domino. Figure 7. From Ferrand, Feugas, and Veyret, Le Corbusier: Les Quartiers Modernes Fruges, 13. Figure 8. From Ferrand, Feugas, and Veyret, Le Corbusier: Les Quartiers Modernes Fruges, 43. Figure 9. From www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/20house.html, Boston College Digital Archive of American Architecture, Jeffery Howe, 1998, image habitat1a_t. Figure 10. From Kohn, Moshe Safdie, 53. Figure 11. From Kohn, Moshe Safdie, 46. Figure 12. From Kohn, Moshe Safdie, 51. Figure 13. From Kohn, Moshe Safdie, 55. Figure 14. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 100. Figure 15. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 101. Figure 16. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 102-103. Figure 17. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 99. Figure 18. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 97. Figure 19. From Arieff and Burkhart, Prefab, 97. Figure 20. Photograph by author. Figure 21. Photograph