By John R. Quain, Editor, Zero Energy News
New York, NY, August 15, 2008 -- Being all green and never playing makes Jack a dull boy. So if you're looking for a little respite from saving the planet, take a look at a new exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Entitled Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, the exhibit chronicles the progression of prefab house designs. From 1833 to the present, there are 60 projects on display inside and outside the museum, including a 1906 model of a Thomas Edison design. MoMA was able to take advantage of an empty lot next the museum in order to construct 5 full-scale prefab houses. The outdoor exhibit is a bare-bones curatorial effort (lacking landscaping or any other niceties) but it gives visitors an excellent sense of the architect's process.
Prefabs impose interesting restrictions on design. Lightweight yet durable materials must be used to make them easier to mass produce and then transport. And, of course, size is an issue, which is where some of the sustainability interest comes in: A smaller home is by nature more energy efficient.
Don't have the disposable carbon footprint to travel to New York? Then check out the video below or visit the museum's Web site where you'll find more footage of the outdoor installation, which raises the question, If you're building a real house, is it art or construction?
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