Cellophane House, interior fly-through

Last Friday, the entire KieranTimberlake team piled into two charter buses and trekked up the New Jersey Turnpike to see the Home Delivery, Fabricating the Modern Dwelling exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art.  This movie was taken with a handheld camera and shows the interior spaces from the top down.  Indeed, the experience of walking through the house is quite different from seeing it on a computer screen.

Cellophane House was drawn in three dimensions with building information modeling (BIM) software called Revit.  This 3D solid, or parametric model, forms the basis for design, development, fabrication and assembly of the house.  Parametric modeling is what made simultaneous off-site fabrication of this project possible.  Without the geometric and dimensional certainty afforded by the closure of the parametric model - each dimension is accurate within 1/32 of an inch - parts could not be assembled in advance to the required tolerances.  Therefore, dimensional discrepancies are reconciled in the model, instead of on the construction site.  

In addition to the advantages of designing the house in three dimensions, we generated lists for ordering parts directly from the model, and tracked cost, weight, and quantity throughout design development.  This holistic method allowed for more efficient structural and mechanical coordination, a clearer approach to assembly sequencing, and a way to control fabrication. The parametric model enabled us to design the off-site fabricated elements for ease of shipping, rigging, and attachment. The virtual house became the sole source of information from which all details, schedules, part lists and fabrication drawings are derived.

Floor plans and section, © KieranTimberlake

With the parametric model, the static drawing types that architects have used since the Renaissance - plans, sections, and elevations - are no longer the standard by which we communicate design intent.  The plans and section pictured here help document the spatial experience, but were not used for construction. 

When paired with the precision of the the Revit model, the extruded aluminum frame by Bosch Rexroth is an ingenious system that enabled us to acheive the high level of accuracy required with off-site fabrication.  We chose to use aluminum versus steel for the frame because it is lightweight, durable, has a long life span and can be reused or recycled. 

None of the systems are hidden behind drywall, moldings or veneers as in a conventional house. The aluminum structure is left exposed, and all of the wires for lighting and monitoring equipment are routed through the grooves in the aluminum extrusions. Because the structure is held together with bolts rather than welds, nails or glue, the house is by nature an impermanent object that can be modified easily, and presumes disassembly - not demolition - at the end of its life.

Read the entire online journal of the assembly process on MoMA's website