Entry Date:
February 14, 2008

yourHOUSE

Principal Investigator Lawrence Sass


yourHOUSE is a research and design project conducted by MIT's Design Lab that is breaking new ground as a pioneer in prefabricated home construction. With a thorough understanding of the past, an extensive utilization of new technologies of the present, and with an awareness of the possibility and growing need for low-cost and high-quality housing, yourHOUSE is set to change the future of home construction.

In the summer of 2007, the Design Lab conducted research on New Orleans ‘Shotgun’ housing. The group met with local home-owners and documented houses throughout the city including houses in the Garden Disctrict, the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and the Lower Ninth Ward.

This design of yourHOUSE is a reinterpretation of historical New Orleans style “Shotgun” Housing utilizing recycled plywood as the main structural material. The house will be fabricated and assembled entirely of friction-fit components, completely eliminating the need for mechanical fasteners such as nails and screws. This fabrication technique is made possible through the extensive use of computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines.