Modular buildings are automatically assumed to be unstylish, out of date and dreary constructions stuck on the side of a traditional build. Not many people realise that many of our modern-day skyscrapers and fashionably styled new builds are built from modular buildings, or affectionately known as shipping containers as they resemble a shipping container from the outside.
Nakagin Capsule Tower, Japan – this building is entirely unique and possibly the most iconic vision of modular architecture that comes to mind. The age of Japanese culture reflects in the way the materials show signs of dirt, it has been a paramount fixture of Japanese living for generations now, and only just being fashioned in a way that the west considers comfortable to bring into our own cities, finally benefiting from the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of modular building.
B2, Brooklyn, USA – The B2 building is a tower block built entirely of prefabricated apartments. Thanks to the construction of these modular complexes’, they were able to manufacture a stunning finished project of the overall building shaped like a triangle.
Wuhan Hospital, China – Wuhan Hospital was created out of modular architecture to increase its efficiency and quickness and be able to appropriately respond to freak accidents and natural disasters, which need an organised but fast response from medical professionals. It was decided that Wuhan’s best option amid the Covid 19 outbreak was to build a hospital in as little as 10 days.
George Road, Croydon, UK – This skyscraper apartment complex is currently under construction and will become the worlds tallest modular buildings. This residential space is being built as part of a rejuvenation scheme in Croydon.
My Micro NY – The use of micro-living in modular buildings may have originated in popularity in the east, but it has come across to the US in the form of quick to build mini apartments. This style of modular building in micro-apartments benefits overcrowded cities like New York.
Nest Toolkit, LA – Nest Toolkit is another example of making flexible buildings in response to land susceptible disasters. In LA, modular buildings were used to help create affordable prefabricated living units and moved to fit the user’s needs.
Alibaba Offices, Shanghai – Popular firms have started transforming the way in which we view modular buildings by using them in modern and stylish ways thanks to their higher budgets and bringing in external interior designers specific to their project needs. The British firm, Alibaba won the competition to build new offices in Shanghai, taking modular buildings back to their place of origin.
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