Houses To Go

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“As labor costs continue to rise in America, it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford the high cost of building a quality custom home,” says architect Joseph Tanney. In response, Tanney and Robert Luntz, prin-cipals at architectural firm Resolution: 4 Architecture, created Modern Modular, a housing concept that leverages existing construction methodologies of prefabrication to create mass customized, modular homes at a reasonable cost.

Modern Modular houses are based on prefabricated, factory-produced, easy-to-transport modular units, minimizing the cost of production. Final structures are designed from the inside out using a series of standard “modules of use.” Modern Modular envisions dwellings composed of these modules, which have the potential to be configured in a variety of ways, meaning limitless home design possibilities, each specific to client and site.

The Modern Modular design proposed for the Dwell Home represents just one of many configuration options—a program specific to Nathan Wieler and Ingrid Tung—and careful consideration of the Pittsboro, North Carolina, site. “It’s impossible that one home is right for everybody,” says Tanney. “Modern Modular is about establishing a system that can be modified for each individual client.”

By merging conventional wood framing with advanced technologies that allow for mass customization, Resolution: 4 Architecture hopes not only to transform the traditional relationship between architect and client in home construction, but also to change the future of residential architecture itself. “Modern Modular offers an option for a modern, affordable home that could aesthetically transform the American domestic landscape,” says Tanney. “The challenge that lies ahead is execution and implementation. We believe we have the strategy; now we need to execute it—and the Dwell Home offers the perfect opportunity to show that the system works.”