A Heavy Focus on Fabrication

“There are many examples of houses and housing when you start to look at prefab and modular, but less so of public infrastructure,” observed Laurie Schoeman of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson in the panel, “Prefabrication in the Public Realm.” It’s arguably a more fitting application for the particular efficiencies and benefits of prefabrication, where time and financing are often in short supply. The panelists - Ronnie Markussen of Human Habitat, Ben Busche of Brut Deluxe, Ada Tolla of LOT-EK, and Carlo Ratti and Rui Guan of Carlo Ratti Associati - offered a variety of approaches to the topic: an urban farm, a market kiosk, an adaptable shipping container, and a Covid treatment module, respectively. Perhaps most refreshing, however, was the heavy focus on fabrication as part of the design process. It’s not just developing the idea, but executing it, which Tolla stresses relies on a network, a “very tight connection with fabrication, with who does the work.”