The Modern Prefab Home Movement

"Allison Arieff co-authored the book "Prefab" in 2002, chronicling the history of prefabricated houses and mapping the possible future of environmentally responsible modular home design and fabrication.

"When I told people what I was doing, they giggled," says Arieff, one of the founders of Dwell magazine and its former editor. "Like, why would anybody write a book on this really mundane ugly architecture?"

Since then, the laughable increasingly has become laudable. Arieff recently shared her opinions about the contemporary design movement she dubs "modern prefab." "