Modular Housing

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Architecture praxis has traditionally focused on customized, project-based services – a well-established model continually favored by industry professionals. While this approach yields remarkable built environments, it struggles to achieve scalability and longevity. The architectural industry has shown little interest in exploring alternative practices, processes and business models, considering that the traditional mode is equally vulnerable to market cycles as other industries are. Bespoke design solutions, the cornerstone of conventional practice, make standardizing processes and scaling services challenging. This focus also leads to fragmented workflows among firms and stakeholders. The stability and establishment of traditional practices can breed a risk-averse culture, hampering disruptive innovations within the industry.

In the Brazilian architectural scene, Felipe Savassi stands out for being a unique mix of designer and communicator. He shares his passion for architecture and his entrepreneurial vision with his thousands of students and followers on social media, with content that seeks to promote an approach centered on the promotion of industrialized and modular construction. With a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the Isabela Hendrix Institute in Belo Horizonte, his professional activity is supported by four essential pillars: design and execution of architectural projects, education, mentoring and consulting, and a strong commitment to communication and content dissemination.

The opening scenes of the award-winning Brazilian film "City of God" (2002) portray a newly constructed housing complex situated on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Subsequently, this complex evolves into a hub of poverty and violence. Despite the film being set in the 1960s, the housing development depicted was a recent construction.

How can industrialization and environmental responsibility go hand in hand? What siting, technological, or constructive strategies can be developed without harming the surrounding landscape? The application of modular design in architecture has been in practice for years, with a history involving the pursuit of standardization and modular coordination among materials, products, and more. Over time, it has been complemented by various environmental, sustainable, ecological, and economic factors to achieve the adaptability and functionality desired by its inhabitants.

Ever since the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of mass production, the ownership and use of simple products and services like flush toilets with running water, electricity, heating, and cooling are seen as human rights in many areas of the world. With the majority of homes and residential projects being individually designed and built to order – therefore without the speed and cost advantages of mass production – an underperforming housing construction sector means many people – even in the world’s richest countries – are being denied one of the most basic human rights, having somewhere to call home.

In a constant search to find new ways to reduce costs and construction times, modular architecture emerges as an opportunity to implement various methods, technologies, and techniques to design livable spaces using separate repetitive elements such as modules. As Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute (MBI), maintains, "Modular" is not about a construction product but rather a construction process.

Many ancient Egyptian, Greek and Islamic religious buildings share a common feature known as hypostyle. Defined as rows of columns that support a roof, this solution has developed in different cultures in different periods of time, which can explain the variety of materials, shapes, sizes and distances between the columns that can be found around the world. Famous examples of the use of this concept are Great Hypostyle Hall (c. 1290–1224 BC), part of the Karnak Temple Complex and one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt, and the Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia (c. 13th and mid-14th centuries), World Heritage Site located in present-day Turkey.

No longer relegated to the domain of temporary structures or utilitarian living, modular housing is increasingly gaining traction. Prefabricated homes are disrupting the architecture industry with their efficient construction, predictable costs, and reduced environmental impact. Modular housing is rooted in the idea of quick replication and standardization. In a world that prioritizes customization, how might modular housing meet the needs of diverse individuals?