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"Prefab" Homes by Daniel Libeskind

Starchitect Daniel Libeskind is trying his hand at a design for prefabricated homes — and the results are more daring than most. Named The Villa, the 5,500-foot-homes are sized and priced for those with starchitect budgets...


 
 

The Villas are manufactured in Berlin and priced at $2.8 million to $4.2 million for European delivery and installation. The 2-story homes include 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a wine cellar and a sauna in the basement.

Known for his large scale projects like the Denver Art Museum and The World Trade Center site master plan, the New York-based architect does not have a lot of residential design in his portfolio — according to The New York Times, " [he] has worked on only two residential projects, one of them a private home in Connecticut. "

There are interesting discussion of the merits of this project (and whether it counts as prefab) on ArchDaily and in The New York Times: Libeskind Designs a Prefab Home.

Via: ArchDaily.

(Images: Studio Daniel Libeskind)

Comments (15)

Why would I want to live in a home with design elements distinctly reminiscent of Libeskind's Jewish Holocaust Museum in Berlin? I mean, that ceiling in the second photo is nearly identical to one of the architectural features in his Jewish Museum meant to evoke Nazi concentration camp search lights.

A poor showing from an otherwise talented architect -- I can see why he hasn't done much residential architecture.

posted by soakwashrinsespin on June 17th 2009 at 4:14pm
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i'm sorry, Libeskind buildings always remind me of an 80's music video or something with all the angled lines everywhere. it's funky or the sake of being funky, to LOOk like something different, but in fact, isn't that interesting. no thanks.

posted by lab director on June 17th 2009 at 4:22pm
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...and looks exactly like the ROM in Toronto. One trick pony?

posted by bullyproofvest on June 17th 2009 at 4:29pm
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oops, FOR the sake of being funky...you know what i'm talkin bout

posted by lab director on June 17th 2009 at 4:38pm
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"in Berlin?"

Or Denver or Toronto.

posted by regruve on June 17th 2009 at 5:14pm
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God-awful.

posted by dsdrane on June 17th 2009 at 6:16pm
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5,500 sq ft is not a house, it's a po-mo McMansion. As already noted, he's replicating his faddish designs here. The Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto is a joke - it's virtually identical to the museum he built in Denver, but is not built for Toronto's climate. Ice slides off the angled roof in the winter so much that part of the sidewalk near the building is permanently off limits.

The interior spaces are really awkward and leave so much unusable space you'd think it was a 1st year architecture student's self-rejected 1st design.

posted by rapidtransitman on June 17th 2009 at 7:30pm
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For 2 - 4 million....I could pretty much build any house I wanted to begin with. Why would I want it prefab? It's a good idea, but far too much money.

posted by baileyb on June 17th 2009 at 7:45pm
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I can't stand his work.

posted by medusa12120 on June 17th 2009 at 9:53pm
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Rapidtransitman, We have issues with the Denver Museum designed by Libeskind too. Its roof has leaked since it opened and with the constant scaffolding looks very unappealing. I had high hopes for it when it opened. Maybe I'll appreciate it again when the resolve the problem. The interior spaces are cool though and it is an iconic structure for Denver. It is more fitting to have an art museum inside a "sculpture" than most other uses. There are condos across the plaza from the DAM designed by Libeskind too and they are priced between $500k and more than a million. Not surprising, there are still some units available several years later.

posted by dmstudio on June 17th 2009 at 9:55pm
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For those unfamiliar with the Denver Art Museum by Libeskind.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/orngcatstudio/3637695482/

posted by dmstudio on June 17th 2009 at 9:57pm
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Light the torches, get the pitchforks . . .

posted by ChrisToronto on June 18th 2009 at 8:04am
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LOL. I guess we should be glad he's been booted off the fabulous WTC recon team....

posted by btfabt on June 18th 2009 at 2:57pm
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Wow - if there had been comment boards in the 50's, I am quite certain that those comments would have sounded a lot like these comments. People forget that among the general population, there was a lot of apathy, if not contempt, for mid century modern homes and furnishings when they were first bursting onto the scene. "Too clinical" would have been a common complaint. Its good to know that some things never change.

With respect to prefab design, I for one am glad someone is trying something a little different. Every effort does not need to be perfection to move the ball forward. Every effort doesn't have to look just like the midcentury inspired slabs of the Marmol/Radziner prefabs. Choice, evolution, and exploration are good. For a prefab, the deliberate asymmetry alone makes this rather daring.

posted by RichardinLA on June 18th 2009 at 5:31pm
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the New York-based architect does not have a lot of residential design in his portfolio — according to The New York Times, " [he] has worked on only two residential projects, one of them a private home in Connecticut. "

It shows. When you start a post with the term "starchitect," it's most going to be something of this quality. It sure must not take much to get through architecture school these days.

With respect to prefab design, I for one am glad someone is trying something a little different. Every effort does not need to be perfection to move the ball forward. Every effort doesn't have to look just like the midcentury inspired slabs of the Marmol/Radziner prefabs. Choice, evolution, and exploration are good. For a prefab, the deliberate asymmetry alone makes this rather daring.

Yes, but architects like these have no respect for the past. That's what really gets me. It's not, "I'll try to improve on what my forebears did," it's "let me think of the most shocking thing I can design—something people won't be able to relate to—but will make me look like a god in the process."

Another classic revolting example of today's status quo when it comes to architecture.

posted by Alaricus on June 20th 2009 at 1:25am
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