The ShowHouse of the Office of Mobile Design (OMD) proves that prefabricated houses and modern aesthetics are by no means mutually exclusive. Located at the eastern end of smart and trendy Abbot Kinney Blvd, the sleek trailer with its colorful Plexiglas gate structure truly stands out. A trailer home indeed it is: the wheels are still attached to the 12-by-60-foot, steel-framed structure.
The interior is bright and stylish with lots of natural light seeping through the many windows and translucent polycarbonate panels. A no-nonsense kitchen and bathroom unit divides the space into a living room area and a bedroom/workspace. The compact space boasts classy Vitra furniture and a well-organized Boffi kitchen. The window structure is vaguely reminiscent of a trailer home, but otherwise there is no hint that this house was constructed at the same factory that usually produces depressing construction trailers. The ShowHouse is a work-in-progress, with OMD striving continuously to add ever more eco-friendly materials and appliances. Flowing ventilation and radiant heat panels help to make it a comfortable dwelling.
The “trailer theme” is the red thread that runs through the professional life of Jennifer Siegal, the founder of OMD. Fascinated by the connectivity of their community that trailer parks foster, she wanted to create a flexible and portable trailer-based housing design that utilizes green technologies and serves different needs and functions.
In 1990, Jennifer Siegal first moved to Venice, California, as a student at SCI-Arc, the Southern Californian Institute of Architecture. A fellowship at Harvard University offered her the great opportunity to do in-depth research on sustainable materials and affordable building methods. Today, the bohemian and artsy neighborhood is still her home, only by now she has managed to set up her own prefab factory in California. With real estate prices skyrocketing and an ever growing demand for modern and earth-friendly houses, Siegal’s credo of “less expansive, more pragmatic,” seems to work out.
INMYX tip:
Have a look to the ShowHouse located at 1650 Abbot Kinney Blvd. In Venice, CA 90291.
Plexiglas is a trademark of Röhrm, Darmstadt
Vitra is a trademark of Vitra Patente Muttenz
Boffi is a trademark of Boffi arredamento cucina Spa, Cesano Maerno, Province of Milano
Link:
http://www.designmobile.com
