Swedish Flatpack Homes In Large, Medium, Small and XXS
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 05. 6.08
XXS Next House is 150 sq. ft. with kitchen. Cost: $21,500 (you assemble)
On first glance the slick web site for Next House, a Swedish prefab designer, is just a tad too glossy. Photos of the prefab houses are gorgeous, to be sure, but they are shot so you'll notice the house's integration with nature - and forget perhaps the fact that in these particular homes you'd be car dependent for every other thing you do besides sit at home.
OK, perhaps that's a little too harsh. Well-known Swedish architect Magnus Ståhl wanted to shake up the Swedish prefab market with stylish and cool flat pack homes that are also affordable. Next House doesn't skimp on the materials - the kitchens are high-quality components from Sweden's Kvänum, feature cool appliances from Smeg, and completed homes are warmed with geothermal heat pumps. Next House says you'd pay twice as much to buy separate pieces yourself. And though the window-filled interiors feel airy and large, the Large Next House is just 148 square meters (approximately 1,500 square feet) which is a far cry from the eponymous (but no relation) Dwell Next House manufactured by Empyrean and starting at 2,500 sq. ft. Now all Swedish Next House needs is to lose the teak (!) and add more eco-friendly components. Via ::NextHouse (Swedish and English)
See also: MOMO Mixes Clean Lines, Green Roof and Some Assembly Required: Wired On Prefab
What's wrong with using teak, it's one of the most weather resistant timbers.
The photos might be gorgeous, but the houses themselves suck.
Where did the idea originate that living in a plain vanilla box was "beautiful"? This is the architectural school of ugly. People who like these must also like sack dresses and four door sedans.
And, based on the 150 sq.ft. cabin at $21,000, overpriced.
BTW, not all teak should be lost. Some teak is grown on sustainable plantations.
Aren't there any archeticts who combine green with beauty?
Of course there are. But this guy ain't one.
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Do you think, however, that if you paid an architect that you liked to design a green and beautiful 150 square foot mini home and then you bought all the materials and had somebody build it that you could do it for less than $21,500?
Ugliness is in the eye of the beholder, or something like that.
It is a very modern and clean design, I wouldn't see it as ugly. And at 15sqm there aren't too many design options that don't waste precious space.
There is much beauty in simplicity. Simplicity and sustainability are keynotes of the future - imo.