consumerism

http://quixoticsloth.blogspot.com/2008/01/consumerism.html

An interesting comment on the relationship between consumerism and current green fab prefab - and my own comment pasted below.

The way I am looking at it, is to start with the excesses of consumerism (affluenza and McMansions) and propose a philosophy of simplicity (buy less and live in smaller houses), through prefabrication.The merits of prefabrication being proposed are of sustainability (time, cost and material efficiencies), affordability, and adaptability.Which in turn leads back to the idea of 'architecture as product', packaging / branding / marketing etc.Ironically, the ills of consumerism are spawning a way of looking at architecture (through prefabrication), and the final 'product' will use the positives of consumerism to wrap it up and make it more attractive to the general consumer market.I understand that the fashionability aspect of 'green' and 'fabprefab' can be off-putting to 'serious' architect - but I see this as all the more reason to take this 'trend' seriously. The architecture profession has typically shunned away from commerical (economically successful) prefabricated products - so this current international buzz is really exciting.