Daniel Libeskind may be putting the ‘fab’ in prefab. One of the world’s most famous (and often controversial) architects, Libeskind has designed a 5,500 sq ft, two-story villa that can be shipped and assembled anywhere. The villa’s price tag will range from just under $3 million to as much as $4.2 million, and many in the industry see this as a game-changing moment for public perception of “out of the box” homes.
Libeskind, who is perhaps best known for designing the Jewish Museum Berlin, the reconstruction of New York’s World Trade Center site and the Denver Art Museum, has only designed a few residential projects. The villa will boast four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a 900 sq ft “grand room,” and a number of green elements, including both solar and geothermal systems, along with a rainwater catchment system that comes optional.
Libeskind explains on his site, “This is a cutting edge house. A house that has the highest sustainability components in the world. From its insulation, from its geothermal power, from solar energy. It is the really highest level in the world. But, sustainability goes beyond just the technical aspects. A house which is memorable, a house which is beautifully built, with fine materials, a house which will remain for a 100 years. That’s what makes this house sustainable.” But critics are quick to point out that with a house of that size (5,500 sq ft), it’s difficult to take Libeskind’s “sustainability” claims seriously.
But the chic quotient is new to the sustainable prefab industry, so to is this degree of exclusivity. It may be “prefab,” but buyers are assured of “regional exclusivity,” knowing they’ll have the only ones in their area. For more, check out Kevin Brass’s piece in last week’s NY Times.
