Cohousing-L Mailing List: What does containerized housing look like? / Safdie's "Habitat"

[Racheli Gai (racheli]

I think many of Safdie's ideas were/are good ones, and still deserve 
attention.
(While some seem outdated)...
It's important to emphasize that Habitat was revolutionary; it met with 
strong
resistance; and since it was the first, it couldn't be cheap, because 
it depended
on an economy of scale.
But the idea, for example, of building densely so people can walk to 
the store etc.
is a good.  It especially resonates deeply here in the Southwest, where 
practically
nothing is within walking distance.
I remember a "Habitat" project, not as ambitious, in Jerusalem.  So, it 
doesn't seem
to be accurate to say that no other ones were built.
I also don't find Habitat ugly at all, even though my taste for 
concrete has diminished
considerably - especially due to the high embedded cost of this 
material.  The "beehive"
effect really reminds me of indigenous dwellings in the Middle East: 
These influenced
Safdie who grew up in Israel.

Racheli
Sonora Cohousing, Tucson.
> >
>
> Orginally conceived as "affordable" rental housing these prefab
> containerized units were made of steel-rebar reinforced concrete. Some
> time later the tenants association voted to go condo and now the units
> sell for up to $1.8 million. However that price reflects joining four
> previously seperated dwellings into one split-level mansion.
>
> Today's photo study is a particularly ugly example giving terraced
> housing a bad name.
>
> http://ecosyn.us/1/Habitat_67/Habitat_67.html