pdf 1 - exhibitions international

The prefab market
is defined by the
triangle
price –
design –
acceptability
for the market.
DESIGN
pRICE
MARkET
The Futuro House by the Finnish
architect Matti Suuronen. Less than
100 versions of this legendary prefab
were actually built.
Photo: happyfamousartists.blogspot.fr
WHY CONTAINERS AND
NOT OTHER pREfABS?
Architects have long attempted to come up with cost-efficient architecture
that is easy to transport, modular and prefabricated. Most
attempts are unsuccessful, as the projects are overdesigned or too
revolutionary for the time or they address too small a group of potential
clients. These factors prevent mass production, raise costs and
diminishes the market for such projects.
Containers, on the other hand, have none of these problems. They are
present as it is, being a by-product of the world trade and transport
chain, they are cheap, easy to transport and as prefabricated as it gets.
They are available everywhere and anywhere. Moreover, they are recyclable
and reusable: if a building is no longer needed, containers can be
taken apart and put to different uses.
A NICHE OR IS
THERE MORE?
Container architecture has become an established
branch of architecture, but is it a real
alternative to other construction approaches or
merely a niche that adds interest to the prefab
market? The calculation is rather simple. The
World Shipping Council has estimated that 29.2
million TEU (20’ equivalent units) were in use in
2011. This equals a total of 429.3 million square
meters of container material. On the other end of
the equation are the 2 billion square meters of
new developments, which is roughly the annual
growth rate of the construction market in China
according to Prof. Wang Wei of the Shanghai
Research Institute of Building Sciences. Even if
all the world’s shipping containers (dry freight
special and standard, tank, refrigerators) were
pulled from the transport chain and converted
into buildings, they could only service China’s
construction market for a period of about 78
days. There are therefore not enough containers
available to significantly change trends in architecture.
Even in the best case scenario with maximum
utilization of existing containers, container
architecture could never play a high-profile role
on the global construction market. In certain
niche areas, however, such as modular prefabricated
buildings, temporary housing or event
architecture, containers do present themselves
as the best alternative.
29,1 mio TEU in 2011
All world’s shipping
containers (dry
freight
special and standard,
tank, refrigerators)
could service China’s
real-estate market
for 78 days only.
48 49
weeks
78 days