“AbleNook is a modular disaster relief dwelling that you can put together without tools in under two hours,” Verdecia said.

Not long ago, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog was the ultimate marketplace, much like Amazon is today. You could even buy a house straight from the catalog. Just pick out the home you like, and voila, Sears would deliver it just for you. [...]

From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold between 70,000 to 75,000 homes, so there are plenty out there, you just need to know where to look. — popularmechanics.com

Parisian designer Stéphane Malka Architecture has suggested creating affordable housing in the French capital by adding prefabricated elements on top of and between existing buildings.

The “3box” system does not require the purchase of sites. Instead, the right to build is obtained in exchange for renovating existing buildings.

According to Stéphane Malka, the housing would cost 40% less than the usual market price and could be built quickly and cheaply in workshops. — Global Construction Plan

more of them were built in the former Czechoslovakia — in a boom that stretched from 1959 to 1995 — than any place else on what was once Soviet earth. Today, about a third of all Czechs and Slovaks, from all income brackets, still call their panelaks home — NYT

Prefab housing plays a big role in recreational dwelling, aside from permanent and work-nomadic forms. This is well illustrated by the thriving KOA (Kampgrounds of America) site I pass on the way into town. KOA, founded in 1962, has 500 sites around US — an alternate housing archipelago experienced by millions of vacationing Americans, and the world’s largest private campsite chain. — Medium

Danish firms JAJA Architects and ONV Architects, in collaboration with Bascon and Scandi Byg, have won the fourth delivery of the affordable housing concept AlmenBolig+. The order comprises 300-400 housing units on sites in the greater Copenhagen area. — bustler.net

"In the late 1960s, designer Jens Risom sought an affordable vacation home for his family on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. Now some 45 years later, the prefab cottage still exists to serve the needs of the growing Risom brood." dwell

Affordability, along with a minimalist aesthetic, were the reasons she decided on a prefab house — points on which Mr. Buryk, who had years before remodeled a 100-year-old house in Portland, Ore., wholeheartedly agreed. “I, similar to Zoe, was coming from a place of not wanting to do that again,” he said.

But it wasn’t quite as affordable as they had hoped. The house cost $260,000 to build, from start to finish (the kit itself was $47,000) — nearly $100,000 more than they’d expected. — nytimes.com

Swedish furniture company IKEA, has collaborated with Oregon architectural firm Ideabox, to launch its first line of prefabricated houses in the U.S., named the “Aktiv.” The IKEA-themed dwelling is a one-bedroom home centered around space-saving furniture and products. The hip and modern house was outfitted taking into consideration the demands from Pacific-Northwest homeowners, and is designed to be eco-friendly. — psfk.com

Lindal Cedar Homes has just launched their Lindal Architects Collaborative, an innovative new prefab home collection featuring designs from the world's leading architects. The line, which will feature prefab systems designed by 12 architects, will not only make modern design more accessible, but will make architecture previously reserved for the more affluent financially accessible to the masses. — www.Inhabitat.com

Prefabricated shells meant for building Bangkok's elevated skyway have become home for flood refugees. — cnn.com