Frank Lloyd Wright meets modern day prefab in the stunning Mod.Fab home, developed by students at Taliesin West in collaboration with their Dean Victor Sidy and Inhabitat favorite Jennifer Siegal. The goal of the collaboration was to build a prototype prefab conducive to elegant and sustainable living within the heart of the desert landscape. It only took a single picture for us to become instantaneous fans, and from passive solar design to photovoltaic panels and SIPs we’re thoroughly impressed with the project’s sustainable elements.
The Mod.Fab prefab runs a modest 960 feet and currently stands nearly completed on the campus grounds at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Taliesin West, located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Sourcing suppliers local to the area, the Taliesin team decided to go with SIPs (structural insulated panels) for the surrounding structure of the Prairie Mod, which allowed them to cut down on on-site construction time while reducing construction waste.
In addition to the SIP skin, the project will use a combination of passive and active environmental control systems including natural ventilation and lighting, and a gray water recycling system along with water catchment. Solar panels are installed adjacent to the bedroom, providing both privacy and power to the project while keeping costs down since the panels did not have to get integrated into the roof. The hope is that the structure will be entirely self sufficient in the end.
The project, entirely built by the students, now sits nearly complete furnished with furniture borrowed from Design Within Reach.
+ Taliesin West
Via PrarieMod
All photos ©2009 Bill Timmerman
A great looking sustainable building. It looks like it folds down into a closed box too!
Love Frank Lloyd Wright. Love Mod.Fab. Love the little touches of red.
This is an incredible looking building. I’d love to replace my home with one like this.
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http://www.jtimages.com
Surely a home cannot be truly sustainable if it is built in a desert?
I can see them making a great business out of this. Add a few more designs – i.e. smaller, larger, taller.
Where do I get one?
FABULOUS.
fantastic..
It was a wonderful idea of this project nice and neat good planning i am looking forward to many more these ideas.
great design, but what’s with the big cactus at the bottom of the stairs for someone to trip and fall onto?
Sweet. Make it available to order and fund the program. You’d sell plenty of them.
Okay… FINALLY ! This design seems to be closing in on the essence of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Usonian Houses’ concept… which were created during the last ‘Great Depression’ and intended to be largely ‘Self-fab’ dwellings that were extremely cost effective. Cost, cost, cost !!!! All the previous ‘Pre-Fab’ designs I’ve seen have been too expensive. This dwelling is called ‘Mod-Fab’… which is a clever way of demarcating that it is NOT ‘Pre-fab’, as it’s largely built on site… and THAT saves a TON of Chavo ($$$). And since a large part of this dwelling was built onsite by the minimally skilled labor of Taliesen West students, apparently the ‘Self-Fab’ ‘Usonian’ concept has been updated to our modern times with this project ? I’ve been an admirer of Victor Sidy’s work since he built his own student dwelling at Taliesen West which was featured in a photo-essay in ‘Sunset Magazine’. Go Victor ! Go Students ! This dwelling is truly the cost breakthrough in the realm of ‘Self-fab’/'Mod-fab’ that we have been waiting for. Kudo’s to Jennifer Siegel and all the other participants as well. Congrats all the way around. INEXPENSIVE… is the byword in Depressionary times. And this design concept appears to satisfy that criteria.
i liked the walls color magnificent !
Any possibility of buying the construction/architects plans?
Very nice styling inside and out. But the solar orientation is not good. That large window wall faces west. The deck is probably pretty hot in the afternoon, even with that big roof overhang. Few windows on the south. At least the bedroom faces east. You have to go outdoors to get from the bedroom to the bathroom. It has a large exterior wall area.
Might be a fun vacation house but its flaws might be too annoying year-round.
Also, the bathroom layout is a bit awkward. I guess they were trying to hide the view of the toilet from the entry. I don’t really blame them much for using the kitchen as an entry path. I have often done that myself in my micro designs.
It certainly does look fun tho.
Fantastic prefab! Would look great housing my mid-century modern furniture collection. The red panel is stunning.
Hello my name is Stefan Amraly. This is a fabulous house design and incredible how if can be almost anywhere.
how much….i want one…. no ten for underprivaledged folks in urban areas….
Real – life Minecraft!
(Name of a popular online game)
Looks very nice. I like the prefab house.