(Design) Modular Architecture, Pt. 1

Because I like thinking about architecture and cities of "the future" I thought it would be cool to show some stuff that seems underutilized in scifi art.  Modularity!

No, I'm not thinking about prefab, just prefab PIECES that can be assembled creatively.  (My dream of making my lego house big enough to live in may come true in some form or another.0  The modular movement is gaining ground, especially in environmentalist circles.  Not only is it more efficient to manufacture, but it can also be disassembled and redistributed instead of torn down.  Not to mention easier, cheaper renovations.  But it's also pretty cool-looking when done well.

These examples tend to go on the utopian side, but we're just looking for artistic inspiration, right?

NOTE:  Most of the headers are links!

HOMB:
A classmate of mine found this during our Solar Decathlon Feasability class.  It's a little too high-end and not so known right now, but looks sweet.

CORAL VILLAGE:
Brainchild of Vincent Callbaut (I might do a blog post on him because some of his stuff is just that cool), Coral Village is a proposal village for Haiti, to be held off the coast in seismic piers.  Each passive unit would also include a patch of land for the family as well.
looks pretty utopian as of now, as I don't know who would pay for it, and how isolated people would be from the mainland.  Again though, it's a good idea in theory, and has the potential for some unique solutions for the illustrator of fantasy cities.

THE VENUS PROJECT:
OK, OK... Maybe later, I'll go into my dubiousness regarding the Venus Project as a whole.  But they have some cool concept images, like this modular concept.  They've got a cool page on construction here.

WETROPOLIS:
Here are plans from a Bangkok-based architecture firm, in effort to help the city combat its flooding and marshy foundation.  This self-sustaining city would ebb and flow with the tide, conforming to floods instead of fighting them.  It would use mangroves to help detoxify the water.  Link in header.

HUMMER HOUSE:
OK, I don't think this is a super-serious proposition, but still, it's a cool idea and has some neat sci-fi/fantasy implications.  How about a city made mostly of old, retired spaceships or something?  (But this isn't just 4 Hummers photoshopped together, this is a working house for a prefab competition, with working electricity, heating, everything.)

hmmm...

KODOMO NO KUNI CLIMBING BOXES:
No info on this designer.  And it's just a playground, but hey, at least the design is functioning!  It looks pretty sturdy too.
I recommend checking out the rest of the blog too.  Playground design is awesome and seems like it's kind of overlooked.  Some of it is fine art sculpture without the pretentiousness of keeping kids off.  Maybe I'll do a post on playground design too...

UNKNOWN DUTCH PLAYGROUND:
I would still customize this as modular, and it inspired an idea of mine for a couple new kinds of city, based on hooking parts of architecture to a main "scaffold mesh".  Wish i had more info on this designer.

So yeah, there are some cool ideas already out there.  Hope they were inspiring!