Plugin House is People's Architecture Office's manifesto for low-cost prefabricated housing—homes that can be put together quickly, with simple tools, by almost anyone and almost anywhere.
About This Book
Faced with homelessness, housing scarcity and gentrification, People's Architecture Office (PAO) proposes a different kind of house: a kit of prefabricated parts that slots into small urban lots, fits inside decaying buildings to create safe shelter, and needs neither specialist trades nor heavy equipment to assemble. The book makes the case for this approach as a genuine alternative to conventional practice, and as a workable model for small studios and self-builders.
The argument is grounded in built work. A wide range of Plugin House projects, mostly in China and the United States, is documented through photography of each structure in place, alongside illustrated assembly manuals and an atlas of every Plugin House built to date. Short personal stories, drawn in the manner of graphic novels, bring the human side of the housing crisis into view and show where the barriers to affordable housing lie. The result is both a practical guide and a call to action for architects and urban planners.
Key Features
- Around 480 illustrations, including in-situ photography of completed Plugin Houses
- Illustrated assembly manuals showing how the prefabricated homes go together
- A complete atlas of Plugin House projects, detailing the design and construction of each
- Graphic novel–style personal stories on the realities of the housing crisis
- Projects drawn primarily from China and the United States
What You'll Discover
- How prefabrication can be turned toward homelessness, housing scarcity and gentrification
- How lightweight plugin structures occupy small urban sites and the shells of existing buildings
- The common problems that link housing crises in very different places—and ideas that can be adapted between them
- Why a house that can be built with limited tools and experience changes who gets to build
About the Author
People's Architecture Office is an international architecture practice with studios in Los Angeles, Beijing and Shenzhen. Founded in 2010 by James Shen, He Zhe and Zang Feng, the practice focuses on work that encourages social interaction and brings diverse perspectives to bear. The Plugin House Company grew out of the studio's work as a way to tackle housing problems through low-cost prefabricated homes.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Dimensions: 190 × 240 mm
- Pages: 304
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780500027585
- Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Perfect For: Architects and planners working on housing, small studios and self-builders interested in prefabrication, and anyone looking for practical responses to the housing crisis.