Prefabricated

Los Angeles-based tiny house company Vika Living has recently revealed a compact Accessory Dwelling Unit called the Vika One, which is fully prefabricated and delivered flat-packed on-site, to simply unfold into position within an hour.

Back in May, we reported on a tiny house named the Tini M that featured a compact footprint and mostly glass exterior. The designer has now followed up with the Tini 2M, which offers a new and more spacious interior layout suitable for a family.

With most of its interior on view, the Tini M isn't the best fit for busy areas, but it allows its owners to feel immersed in nature. The non-towable tiny house comes with a range of options, including its layout and full off-the-grid functionality.

Design studio Autonomous has created an assemble yourself building kit designed to easily pop up in the backyard. The Pod can be used as an outdoor office space, games room, gym, art studio or guest room and can be assembled in just one day.

Backcountry Hut Company (BHC) has unveiled a new model dubbed the Catskills Cabin. The compact dwelling is inspired by traditional alpine cabin design, and its entire exterior shell only took 10 days to fully install.

Straight out of the smart, sustainable suburbs of an extraterrestrial future, the Nestron Cube Two X is a step toward the next generation of modular living. It has extra space and big views (of Earth, Mars or elsewhere) out large windows and skylights.

Ghanian/British architect Sir David Adjaye has produced some large projects but his firm's latest work is on another scale entirely. It will involve transforming Ghana's healthcare facilities by creating 101 new hospitals in the country.

Prefabricated buildings are designed to be put together very quickly, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a building that goes up as quickly as this recently completed 10-story high-rise by China's Broad Group, which was assembled in just over a day.

Studio Puisto has completed a modular eco-hotel concept, made up of three U-shaped dwellings located in Finland's Kytäjä Golf. Each prefabricated module hosts three suites and is designed to be transported on the back of a standard truck.

London-based design firms Koto Design and Aylott + Van Tromp have joined forces to create a modular "hotel in a box" concept. Dubbed Hytte, the innovative accommodation concept transforms an outdoor space into a ready-to-go nature retreat overnight.

We've seen tiny houses that extend upward, tiny houses that extend outward, and even tiny houses that take the roof off, but Brette Haus puts a new spin on the small living movement with a folding design intended for easier transportation.

While 2020 has given us serious cabin fever, it's also provided some antidotes. The new Jupe shows that sometimes the cure to cabin fever is ... a cabin, albeit one with a better view. The modern prefab shelter serves as an escape from city life.